Unexpected
by Michi41
Summary: It's the gang's senior year, and everything should be fine, right? Wrong. Combining a major car accident, someone going through a life-changing event, several couples breaking up, secrets being exposed and more hidden, and much more, this year is just full of unexpected things happening. Will everyone survive this crazy year together?
1. SUPER LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Before beginning this story, there is one very important thing you need to know. Although it doesn't say this in the description that probably led you to this story in the first place, this story is a sequel to another one, the story before this known as Circle of Love. However…I started writing it a year ago. And let me tell you one thing. It _sucked. _A lot. It was written horribly, many were out of character, and it was written horribly. Yes, I meant to put that twice. **

**But after thinking about it for a while (because I knew people actually _liked _that story…) I ultimately decided that I didn't want my name stamped on that story anymore. It, in my perspective, was giving me a reputation as a bad, annoying (because of my billion rambles for author's notes), writer. And I didn't want that kind of reputation. Therefore…I decided to delete it. As of this writing, I haven't yet, but will very soon.**

**Now, don't be discouraged if you were in the middle of it or whatever. Frankly, I don't even know how you got very far if you were; it was written so horribly. But it's okay. Even though there will be references to it in Unexpected, they won't be _so _blatantly obvious that you'll be like, "Oh no. What the hell am I going to do? I haven't read Circle of Love." Trust me, you wouldn't want to, anyway. But even if there _is _a blatant reference to it, you can just ask me about it in a PM or review, and I'll give you an answer. I don't know. Just do whatever it takes to understand the material. **

**Oh. I almost forgot. There are four OCs of mine in this story, three of which have appeared on the show but are nameless.**

**Vienna Thompson: Completely my own. She is very dramatic, ambitious, motivated, decisive, and focused on making it to Broadway in the future. Sings insanely well but unfortunately has a big ego about it. She can also be selfish, stubborn, and have an authoritarian attitude, so people sometimes get a bad first impression of her when she's actually a pretty nice person once you get to know her. She is closest with Adyson in the group and is currently dating Buford, but used to date Django. _That _relationship ended in a nasty breakup. It's a very long story that would require a lot of explanation, so I'll just let you ask me about it if you want.**

**Aubrey Sansone: Is the unnamed brunette Fireside Girl on the show who has only appeared in "I Was a Middle Aged Robot". She is very funny, sweet, cheerful, and childish, still believing in things like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and loving fairy tales. She is not by any means considered a normal teenager since she is extremely unintelligent and has an extreme lack of common sense. For instance, she calls the toilet the 'magical poop stealing water chair' and believes that her cats are superheroes. People either really like her or they really _don't _like her because of all of this. Aubrey is bisexual, having previously dated Irving and is now dating Holly. There is a complicated story behind _that _as well; just ask me about it if you want.**

**Lillian "Lilly" Carlson: Is the unnamed blond Fireside Girl on the show who has appeared in several different episodes and had one speaking line in "The Beak". She is considered to be quite mean and very sarcastic, yet can be very funny at the same time. Lilly, you could say, does not have a very good backstory. When she was ten years old, both of her parents were killed in a car accident, forcing her and her recently born baby brother to move to Danville and live with their uncle and grandmother. Coincidentally, Lilly is Django's cousin. She used to date Irving, but when she discovered that he was cheating on her with Aubrey (another long story…sorry…), she broke up with him. Lilly is very good friends with Holly and her cousin.**

**Savannah Schumacher: Is the unnamed brown-haired Fireside Girl from the episode "Tour de Ferb", which was her only appearance. She is very laid back, lazy, and sarcastic, and is quite the tomboy, hating anything remotely girly. This made her relationship with Ginger Hirano awkward since Ginger became the exact opposite once they entered middle school. The two stopped being friends in junior year. Savannah has a tragic backstory, but all that is currently known is that her father is not necessarily a good person, taking her family's money and moving elsewhere, causing his daughter and wife to be homeless. Luckily, they moved to a shelter, where they are currently residing. The gang just recently found out about this at the end of the story.**

**Phew. All right. Those are the OCs I have that appear constantly throughout this story. Now I'll just tell you who's together with whom. **

**They are: Phineas/Isabella, Ferb/Emily (yes, she appears in here, too, and she is not mine, just for clarification), Django/Adyson, Buford/Vienna, Holly/Aubrey, and Baljeet/Ginger. The single ones are Katie, Lilly, Milly, Savannah, Gretchen, and Irving. **

**Those who broke up in the last story were Ferb/Gretchen, Lilly/Irving, Aubrey/Irving (he was dating both at once…again, just ask me if confused), and Vienna/Django. There were mentions of Baljeet/Mishti.**

**All right. That should have you ready to start reading the sequel to all of _this _craziness. And if you just feel overwhelmed now, I'm sorry. Go do something else, and _then _come back to this. If you want. I won't make you or anything. And if you want some more clarification or some more background information on some characters (especially Aubrey), then you can read my fanfic Video Blog Randomness. But it's not necessary.**

**So…yeah. I hope you enjoy this story, and if you don't, that's okay, too. Just try to find another story in this fandom. There's only about… *checks* four thousand more to check out on this site alone. **

**And please leave feedback in some way or form, especially critiques. God, I love those. Give me one of those, and I'll be_ insanely _happy. I'm not one of those people that gets whiny and upset when someone doesn't love their story and praises it from left to right. That's not what I'm here for. I'm here only to attempt to enhance my writing skills. It's my dream in the far future to be someone kids look up to. And if my writing sucks, well, then what will kids be looking up to? A sucky writer, that's what. How good would _that _be? So if the writing sucks, just flat out say it. I can take it.**

**Okay, that's enough. I'm tired of typing this, and I'm sure you're tired of reading this. So I will shut up and let you start to actually read the story. Sound good? Good. Glad we agree.**

**-Michi**


	2. Last Day of Summer

_**Sunday, September 10**_

_**The Flynn-Fletcher's Backyard**_

_**Isabella**_

Stepping outside of my house and shutting the door, I start to make my way to the other side of the street the way I always do, and always have since I was three years old and I first met the love of my life in preschool.

I know, to call Phineas Flynn the love of my life when we're only seventeen years old is a _bit _of a stretch, but I am not the kind of person that lies. I am a former Fireside Girl after all, and one of the most important rules is to never tell even a little white lie. Another is for us to always stick together even after we turn thirteen and therefore have to stop being one. Unless, of course, you're like the way Phineas' sister Candace was and need tickets to the Paisley Sideburn brothers, so you only join for one day. When you're fifteen.

Anyway, so for the sticking together thing, that has pretty much happened, but after we started middle school and began to split into little groups, tension grew between us. I won't get into details, but it wasn't until last year when most of us really started being friends again. Or enemies, for some of us. Let's just say last year was just completely insane and totally overwhelming. But now we're seniors in high school, so I'm hoping this year will be better.

By now, I've reached the fence leading to the backyard, the one that currently has my boyfriend and his brother in it, so I do the usual routine of swinging it open and going, "Hey, Phineas. What'cha doin'?"

He turns, and his amazing smile lights up on his face, also the way it always has. Even though we're now officially a couple, nothing much has really changed between us. "Hey, Isabella," he greets me, his brother Ferb Fletcher only giving his usual nod at me. He doesn't really say much unless it's to Phineas or his girlfriend Emily Kinney, from what I've heard.

"So is everyone coming over today?" I wonder, leaning my head to the side to look at whatever they're working on for today. Something awesome, most likely, since it's the last day of vacation. Boo.

To my surprise, he shakes his head no. "Nope," he says, looking slightly bummed. "I know for a fact Buford, Vienna, Django, and Adyson aren't, since they're going to the annual last-day-of-school festival at the high school for the day. I figure Gretchen won't be, since we haven't seen her in a while."

"Yeah, what's up with that?"

"I dunno." He shrugs. "Ferb doesn't, either." At this, Ferb nods. "He keeps trying to call her, but she never picks up."

"Me too. That's so weird."

"Yeah," he agrees before turning back to look at a blueprint. "I also know that Milly has to stay home to help with her step-mom's baby, so she can't come." He looks over at his green-headed brother. "Do you know if Em will be here?"

Ferb shrugs. "I doubt it," he replies. "She told me she had a prior engagement with her family she needed to fulfill."

"Darn it," Phineas says, frowning as he picks up a leftover piece of metal. I assume they haven't yet gotten their order for the day's invention yet. "Hopefully more people will be here. It's the last day of summer, after all-"

"Hello," Baljeet Rai unknowingly interrupts, walking into the yard, Holly Walker and Aubrey Sansone right behind him. Aubrey's eyes are wide, and they keep on shifting from looking left to right, as if she thinks a monster is about to come out and eat her. Although knowing her, she just might.

Phineas' frown wipes right off of his face as he sees the three walking in. "Hey, guys," he says happily. "Glad you could make it."

"It took Aubrey here a bit of convincing," Holly says, glancing at her girlfriend. Yes, they're girls and they've been going out for a while. It was a little surprising for us when we found out, but we didn't dwell on it. We just treated it like a normal relationship.

"I'm sorry!" Aubrey protests in reply to Holly's comment. She crosses her arms as she scowls. "I had a bad dream last night."

Phineas raises his eyebrows, looking genuinely concerned. "Oh, no," he comments, his eyes widening. "What happened?"

"I had a dream where this giant donut followed me into your backyard," she explains, biting her lip as she thinks. "He kept screaming at me, and then I woke up."

I can tell that Phineas is struggling not to laugh, because he's scratching his ear, something he does either when he's nervous or when he's lying, or even both sometimes. "A…giant donut?" he echoes.

"Yeah," the Latina stammers, hanging her head. "I know it's stupid. I'm gonna sit down."

As she does so, we all glance at each other, clearly not knowing what to say as we stare at each other in confusion. Baljeet is the first to break the silence after about a minute passes. "Well-" He clears his throat. "I suppose I should be the one to inform you that Ginger will not be making it here today." He rolls his eyes. "Apparently, she felt the need to go back-to-school shopping the very last day of vacation. Not her smartest decision. I myself was done three and a half weeks ago."

Phineas contorts his mouth to form a straight diagonal line. "Aw, that stinks."

"Yes, yes it does."

"Lilly's apparently not making it, either," Holly announces as she holds up her red cell phone. "She just texted me saying she needed to go…back to school shopping?"

"Why would she do that?" I wonder, holding up a hand in confusion. "We all wear the same outfits every day anyways."

Holly sighs as she puts her phone back in her pocket. "Try telling that to Lilly. She also quote needs end quote more makeup, too. And-."

"Hey guys," a girl's voice says, and we all turn towards the fence to see Savannah Schumacher, the world's biggest tomboy, walk into the yard.

"Hi," Aubrey calls out from the other end of the yard, where's she's sitting on a giant bullfrog. He doesn't seem to mind, though.

"What's up?" I ask, going over and being careful not to hug her or even shake her hand, since she for some reason hates to be touched.

"Nothin' much." She shrugs, examining her fingernails. "Mom's still working at the library, I'm at Slushy Dawg for the next month or so until I find something better to do with my time, and…" She grins. "We almost have enough to pay rent for an apartment."

Our eyes all widen, and Holly and I cheer as the guys grin. "Savannah, that's fantastic!" I exclaim. "Seriously!"

"I know." She tries to hide her smile, but she's not doing a very good job at it. "I can't wait to get out of that shelter. The people there are really nice, but…it's not the same as having a regular house, you know?"

"I would tell you I understand, but I do not," Baljeet remarks, shaking his head in wonder. "I do not know how you do it. You are so calm. If I were in your situation, I would have gone insane by now."

Savannah shrugs again, but before she can say anything, another head pops in, this time a blond one. "Sorry I'm late," Katie apologizes, awkwardly looking away as she lets her hair out of a ponytail. "Dance class kept me busy for a while."

"I see that," Phineas remarks, likely noticing the amount of sweat clinging to her body right now. "What on earth did you _do _in there?"

She blushes slightly, or maybe it's just her pink dance tank top reflecting onto her in the sun; I can't really tell. "Nothing much, really," she insists, holding a bobby pin in her teeth as she attempts to tie her hair back again. "It'th really juth the heat in the thun. It'th hot out."

"Ah." He nods. "Well, you have no need to worry about that. As soon as the guys get her with the supplies, then we'll-"

"Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher?" some guy with a brown beard interrupts, holding a clipboard and a pen. "Did one or both of you order ten thousand cans of soda, five thousand wood pieces, and…a giant floating baby head?"

We all peer to see that, sure enough, there is a giant floating baby head in his large truck that's taking up the entire driveway and some of the yard as well as the ice and the wood. "Um…" Phineas says, clearing stumbling to find the right words. "Yes, the wood and the soda. But…not a baby head."

The man frowns as he looks down at his clipboard again, but his face then brightens. "Oh, whoops, my mistake," he informs us as the truck pours the contents into the yard, baby head included. "It's meant to be for a Heinz…something. His last name is very odd. But whatever. Just sign here-" He gestures to a spot on the clipboard of which to do so, and Phineas does. "And I suppose I'll be on my way to this guy's house. See you tomorrow."

"Actually, no," the redhead corrects him, contorting his face into a grimace. "School starts tomorrow."

The man gives him a sympathetic look. "Aw, that stinks," he commiserates, shaking his head.

"It's our last year, though. And-"

"Thank you," Katie interrupts, shooting Phineas a glance. "We'll see you sometime eventually."

The man scratches his head as he stuffs the clipboard under his arm. "Uh…all right. But hey, you kids don't get caught up in all the drama this year, all right? Just have fun."

"Sure thing. Thank you again."

When the man is out of sight and has backed out of the driveway, Katie clears her throat, clearly out of embarrassment. "Sorry about that," she informs us as she looks at the ice. "The soda was just dripping. Look at it. I didn't want it to all be gone by the time we got started."

Sure enough, when we all look, drips are slowly falling out and landing on the grass. And since they're all so big, they're each kind of making their own puddle. "Oh, gosh," Phineas gasps as he runs over. "Thanks for that, Katie. Ferb, we're gonna have to move quickly here. The sun's really hot today."

"No kidding," Savannah moans as she fans herself. "Anyone here have a ponytail holder?" Holly hands her one without comment as Aubrey springs up from the bullfrog, who quickly hops away.

"My bad dream is gone," she announces. "I don't remember it anymore!"

"You mean the one with the giant-" Baljeet begins, but I smack him in the arm before he can say anything more.

"Be quiet," I mutter, worriedly looking towards Aubrey, but she's too busy listening to Phineas' plans, of which I _do _want to hear, but this is just as important. "Last thing we need is a hysterical Aubrey. Think of what Buford would have done had he been here."

My friend nods his head so quickly that he reminds me of a bobblehead. "Yes, ma'am," he says, saluting me.

"So that's what I told Ferb we were going to do today," Phineas finishes as he glances at me. "You got that, Isabella?"

Shoot. So I _did _miss something important that my boyfriend had to say. Wonderful. "Yep," I fib, making a note to myself to tell him the truth later. That way, I'm not lying.

"Great!" he says, clasping his hands together. He then looks around. "Hey, before we start, has anyone seen Perry?"

* * *

_**Meanwhile, with Perry…**_

The platypus that had been the highlight of Phineas and Ferb's lives since they were five years old carefully made his way to a stone on the patio their mother Linda had installed several years before. Making sure neither Phineas and Ferb or any of their friends, especially Isabella, was watching, he quickly threw his fedora that he wore as a secret agent on, opened the stone, and scrunched his head in there.

However, it was a pretty tight squeeze for him, and only after about a full minute of struggling did he manage to fall through the tube leading directly to his lair, the lair in which Major Monogram would tell him what he needed to do to defeat Doofenshmirtz, blah, blah, blah. It had been the same for years. Perry never understood why he needed to do this, but Monogram insisted, so he just went with it.

The teal platypus walked grouchily up to his seat and pressed a button, making the old man's face pop up on the screen. "Morning, Agent P," Monogram said as he adjusted his mustache. "Good to see you again."

Perry grunted.

"I know…strange way to greet you, seeing as I…see you every day…but that doesn't matter. Doofenshmirtz has been seen buying a giant floating…baby head…weird. Carl, do those things actually exist?"

"Why would he buy them if they didn't exist, sir?" a nasally voice that belonged to Monogram's still unpaid intern was heard from the camera.

"Hmm…good point. Anyway, I also wanted to ask you. Is this your owners' last day of vacation?"

Perry nodded.

"I figured that. This was usually the time of year Monty went back to school. Now he's run off with Doof's daughter…" He grimaced. "I still find that absurd, but this isn't the time to talk about that. What I mean is that it's been a dozen years since they acquired you, which means you have officially gone through a dozen years with them only catching you that one time, with their memories being erased afterwards."

The platypus gave him an unimpressed look that meant, _Come on. You really think I didn't know that before?_

"I know. But listen, Agent P. This is likely their last year to live here, which means you will have to be even more careful with the way you escape. They will likely be more attached to you than ever before when they realize that they'll only have a short bit of time left with you before they leave for college."

Perry grimaced. He didn't like to think about his owners going to college. It was insane, seeing as they were five when they adopted him.

"Well, anyway. Go find out what Doofenshmirtz is doing, and put a stop to it!"

_Yeah, yeah, yeah, _Perry thought irritably as he climbed into his hovercraft. _Not like I've ever heard THAT before._

* * *

_**Back to Isabella for the rest of this chapter. Don't worry, Doof's invention will be seen affecting their invention, so you'll still know what happens.**_

Phineas whistles as he looks at the latest invention, which cascades up into the clouds and towers far above our heads. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's jump in!"

"But we don't even-" I begin to protest before I realize everyone already has their bathing suits on. "Wow, that was weird. How did that happen?"

"It's probably just the way cartoons work," Savannah says with a shrug.

Holly rolls her eyes. "Way to break the fourth wall."

"Why, thank you."

"Come on, guys! Let's get in!" Phineas shouts as he walks onto the elevator that only goes up when someone steps on it. He then dives into a pool, and Ferb joins him right after in a different part.

I know, you're probably thinking, 'A pool? Pffft. That's lame.' But it really isn't. It's not like a normal pool like the one I have in my backyard. I'm talking about jumping into different sodas or fruit drinks or whatever we want. Before we jump in, we're covered in this invisible plastic wrap so the color of the substance doesn't affect our skin. And there's a ton of different little pools for us to jump into, so we're all satisfied.

"CANNONBALL!" Holly screams as she jumps into the Sprite.

"PENCIL DIVE!" Savannah yells as she dives into the fruit punch.

"BELLY FLOP!" I shout when I fall in the lemonade.

"LITTLE JUMP!" Aubrey shrieks, plunging into the Coke.

"CRACKER SPLASH!" Baljeet hollers, diving into the limeade.

We all look at him strangely when he emerges, and he reddens. "Sorry. It sounds better in Hindi."

Phineas shakes his head in confusion before reaching over into my area and splashing me, beginning to laugh.

"HEY!" I shriek, but I'm laughing too, and eventually, we're all throwing soda at each other and tackling one another under the water, er, drinks.

"You're SO dead!" Savannah yells to Holly after the latter sprays the former with Sprite from her mouth, but she's grinning under all of that messy brownish-blond hair getting in her face.

"Oh, really?" her friend asks, her eyebrow raising up into the air. "Then what do you think of _this_?" Before Savannah can question her, she has jumped into her pool and moves her hand through the fruit punch, splashing her with red everywhere.

We continue to do this for a while until a dark shadow just randomly appears over us. We try to look up and see what it is, but it's gotten too dark to see everything.

"Is it dark already?" Baljeet wonders. "How did it get late so quickly?"

Ferb licks his finger and puts it in the air before shaking his head. "It's only about two o'clock," he explains. "Nowhere near the time of day to be the evening."

"Then why…" I question before the shadow begins to go away. However, I realize what it is, and I blink and stare at it harder before covering my mouth in shock.

It's a giant donut. Read it again. And again. Nope, you're not crazy.

"OH MY GOD!" Aubrey screams in shock, scrambling to get out of her pool, as do the rest of us. We all look at it in disbelief, and I have to struggle to not start laughing. What are the odds?

Holly steps over to her girlfriend and puts a towel around her. "Aubrey, it's okay," she says, though I can tell she's struggling, too. "It's just a…giant donut…"

"Exactly like the one in my dream!" Aubrey shouts, teeth chattering, though whether it's from fear or the temperature, I don't know. "I _told _you I wasn't stupid!"

Phineas coughs. "Uh…I don't know about you guys, but I think we should just get out of here." He points up, and sure enough, the donut is coming closer…and closer…and it begins to pick the pools up.

"RUN!" Baljeet shrieks, voice cracking slightly. We all scurry into the house just as the donut picks the pools up with its…hands…and floats away.

"Well," Phineas says, breathing heavily as he watches from the glass window. "I can't say _that's _happened before."

"Never again," Aubrey mutters, shaking her head over and over. "Never again."

"I guess we might as well get going, then," I say, and the other five all nod. I go over and hug Ferb, and then Phineas, but for longer. "It was fun, though."

"Guess we'll see you guys tomorrow, then," Phineas tells us before glancing down. "Oh, there you are, Perry!"

The platypus chatters.

"See you at school," I say, making a face as I walk out of the house, along with the others.

"Hopefully, more of us will have the same lunch this year," Katie adds.

"Let's hope, right?" Phineas says, waving. "Bye, guys!"

* * *

**Phew…nice and long, right? Just so you know, that's the only Doof/Perry subplot we'll ever really hear of being in this story...though Perry will have an important part later in a storyline. You'll see. Plus, this is the only chapter where it will be like an episode, per se. Next one will be more dramatic. ;)**

**And I'm sure you probably want to know what exactly Doof did. Basically, what happened was that he found out that Roger was allergic to donuts, so he decided to turn a floating baby head into a giant floating donut. He _was _actually successful, sort of…until the donut floated off to the backyard instead of the city hall. Once it came back, pools with it, it turned back into a baby head for some reason. So now Doof's stuck living with one. XD Also, did you like the little bit of Montessa I managed to sneak in here? And a _tiny_ bit of Phatie, too, but _that'll_ be more prominent later.**


	3. A Changed Gretchen

_**Monday, September 11**_

_**Danville High Cafeteria**_

_**Isabella**_

"Hey, Isabella," Vienna Thompson, one of my closest friends since she rejoined our Fireside Girls troop when we were ten, greets me from one end of the table, where my other friend Emily Kinney is also sitting. She studies my face before frowning and cocking her head. "Something wrong?"

I manage to give her a tight grin. "I'm fine, V, but thanks," I fib slightly, and she shrugs before digging into her salad. Truth is that I just had a pop quiz. In Calculus. When this is the first day of school.

Boy, this year _sure_ is going to be fun.

"Whatever you say."

"'Sup?" Adyson Sweetwater asks us as she plunks her tray down onto the table and takes a seat by Vienna. She groans as she glares down at her pizza. "God, _why_ did I get this? It's nastier than my brother's moldy piece of cheese he keeps on his bed."

"Your brother keeps a moldy piece of cheese on his bed?" Django Brown, Adyson's boyfriend, asks her with a strange look on his face. This whole time, he's tried to avoid looking at Vienna, which is understandable. Long story short, they used to go out, but then they had this huge argument and broke up. So even though they deny it, none of us thinks they're on very good terms with each other.

"Yeah." Adyson makes a face. "I don't know where on earth he _got _it, but it's there. I've tried to throw it out multiple times. And I seriously think there's a rat in his room."

Even in my irritable state, I can't help but lift my head and give her a disgusted look. Luckily, I'm not the only one, as the others are all doing the same thing. "That sure was wonderful to share, Adyson," Emily moans as she bites her lip and looks down at her packed lunch. "Now I've lost my appetite."

"Why, thank you."

The Brit rolls her eyes as her, and Django clears his throat. "So, uh." He looks around. "Is anyone else coming? I mean, it's the middle of the period now-"

"Look a little harder next time, Brownie," Buford Van Stomm grunts out of nowhere, and Vienna instantly brightens up. In case you didn't know already, they're also going out. "As ya can see, I'm here. I saw Aubs, Milly, and Cinnamon, too."

"You mean Ginger?" I clarify, my voice hoarse from barely talking all day. I clear my throat, but the weird tickle still doesn't go away.

He shrugs as he sits next to Vienna, who has turned pink. "Eh, Ginger, Cinnamon, it's all the same to me," he clarifies before glancing over at his girlfriend and smiling. "Hey, doll."

She rolls her eyes playfully. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by that name," she teases, looking around everywhere. "Oh, Doll! Hey there, Doll!"

Before Buford can give her more of a response other than a playful smack in the arm, Milly, Aubrey, and Cinna-oh, sorry, Ginger- seat themselves down at the table, the first and last ones groaning.

"Oh. My. God," Ginger emphasizes, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she opens the milk carton. "Could that line get any freaking _longer_?"

"I know, right?" Milly agrees after chewing and swallowing a piece of turkey hoagie. "I thought lunch would be over by the time we got here!"

"Don't worry," Aubrey says. When we all turn to look at her, she grins. "I made a wish to the magical unicorns of Fairy-Tale land to make lunch longer. And they granted my wish!" She claps her hands excitedly. "I _knew_ unicorns were real!"

We all kind of just each give her a nod, not really knowing how to respond. How _do _you respond to a girl who's almost eighteen that still thinks unicorns can pop up out of nowhere? I mean, do _I _still believe in them? Duh, of course! Phineas finally introduced me to one when we were thirteen, and it was one of the best days of my life. But do I think they grant wishes to just anyone? No.

"That's…great, Aubrey," Emily says for all of us, and we all nod again in agreement. We've learned over the past seven years that it's better to just agree with her rather than disagree. It makes all of our lives easier.

"Yay!"

"But anyway. Is this everyone here? I thought Irving had told me he was in this lunch period, but-"

"Since when do you talk to Irving?" Adyson wonders, and I have to concur with that. Irving hangs out with us a lot, but everyone knows he really only does it to stalk Phineas and Ferb. Although lately, he's been hanging around his ex-girlfriends a lot, too…and the rest of us...

"I didn't," Emily insists. "_He _came to me asking if I knew Ferb's schedule. When I said no, lying by the way, he told me his. And he said he had this lunch period."

We all look around, but the lunch line is empty now except for the creepy looking cafeteria ladies wiping up the counters. "Then where is he?" Django asks.

"Maybe he's off riding a pony."

We ignore Aubrey's statement. "Dunno," Milly says with a shrug.

"Hold on," Buford informs us. After looking around to make sure no teachers are peering at us from their little area, he pulls out his cell phone from his shorts pocket and turns it on. "Let me check Facebook. He's always updatin' on there."

"Good idea." Vienna nods.

We wait a few seconds as he looks at the phone from under the table, and as that time passes, I think about my calculus quiz. It had to do with…Leibniz's notation, right? Or was it integral calculus? Oh…hold on, it was-

"Got it," Buford announces, and I snap out of my thoughts. Good thing he did that to me before I got too far in there. "Apparently he's in Chicago this week."

Vienna's eyes widen in excitement. "That's amazing!" she says, smile growing bigger every second. "What part is he playing?"

Buford looks at her strangely, as do the rest of us. "The _city _of Chicago," he clarifies, and his girlfriend's smile fades.

"Oh."

We all shake our heads as V blushes in embarrassment. I decide to try and take my first bite of my taco before I feel my phone buzz with a text in my pocket. Startled, I glance down after checking for teachers' stares, and afterwards nearly jump out of my skin.

It's Gretchen. Yes, Gretchen Petersen, my friend since preschool and best friend since we were Lil' Sparks and Fireside Girls together. Why am I so surprised to hear from her then, you may ask? Well, it has to do with the fact that we only saw her for maybe the first week of summer, and then she vanished. POOF. Just like that. She appeared again briefly to be on Aubrey and Holly's video blog that they did for fun, but then she was once again gone. So to get any sort of update from her is kind of a miracle these days.

_Isabella, meet me behind the bleachers in the gym. Don't worry, no one else is here. I have something really imperative to tell you. I have a SMALL feeling you won't like what it is, but…oh, what the heck. Just get over here. –G_

Eyes still wide with surprise, I put the phone away. I'm not really sure what everyone's talking about now, something to do with Chicago, and I have a feeling that I really wouldn't care for the conversation. So when I get up from the table and exit the cafeteria, nobody really even notices, even though my bright pink T-shirt can be spotted a thousand miles away.

Carefully sneaking through the hallways (since we're technically not allowed to just roam free in them during class), I finally find the door to the gym and push it open, all of my strength being forced into it. I then walk over to the bleachers, making a face as I do so. Why did Gretchen have to choose the dirty haven't-been-cleaned-in-centuries bleachers of all places here for us to meet?

I peek around the steps before walking into the somewhat dark, cobweb-filled area. It's a really big, narrow area that could possibly be mistaken for an actual room if you squint. But apparently, Gretchen and I aren't the only ones who know about this place, because another girl is here. This girl is wearing all black, punk-like clothes, and her hair is cut many different lengths throughout her head and is a little spiky. It's also dyed a multitude of pinks, and I can see a little bit of purple, black, and brown, too. Plus, she's smoking, which makes me wrinkle my nose. I hate when people smoke. And when the girl turns around to regard me silently, I'm startled at the amount of eyeliner she's wearing. Really, it's a lot. And I thought _Adyson_ wore a lot. Clearly not.

"Uh…hi," I say, cringing at just how loud my voice sounds compared to everything else. I clear my throat, and then continue. "Who are you?"

The girl gives me an unimpressed look before sighing and throwing her unfinished cigarette on the ground, stamping it down with her black boot. "I'll give you a hint." She steps a little closer to me, and her dark blue eyes darken even more. "I just sent you a text five minutes ago."

_I just sent you a text five minutes ago… _My eyes grow large, and I stare at Gretchen in horror. "W-w-w-what?" I stammer, taking a step back and blinking repeatedly. _This _is what has happened to her after all this time? "But-"

"Don't act so surprised." She rolls her eyes. "Clearly, none of you appreciated me for who I was, so I decided to change myself."

"But-"

"And don't try to say you weren't annoyed by me. You were. Pretty much everyone was, except maybe for Phineas and Ferb." She chews her bottom lip, surprisingly without dark makeup, at the mention of Ferb for a brief second before returning to her bored look. "So here I am."

I shake my head still, mind spinning with possible responses. What am I _supposed _to say? 'I'm sorry you're like this now?' 'You look horrible?' 'Are you kidding me?' I want to say all of these things, but what comes out of my mouth instead is, "What _happened_?"

Gretchen narrows her eyes, looking even more disgusted. "What do you mean, 'What happened'?" she asks me, trying to imitate me, but fails horribly. She shakes her head before continuing. "I did what I thought would be best for everyone."

"So you go around and dress like…_this_ all summer? Gretchen, we were _worried _about you! We were thinking something horrible had happened to you, and when you finally do turn up, it turns out you've been fine this whole time." I look at her sadly. "The Gretchen I see in front of me isn't the Gretchen I've always been best friends with. Just _please-_"

She snorts. "Since when have we been _best friends _in the past seven years? Ever since Emily Kinney came to town from jolly old England, you've pretty much ignored me, Isabella. You're lying to yourself here. And Fireside Girls don't lie. You've said so yourself a million times."

Tears are now pricking at the back of my eyes, and I have to fight myself not to let them fall. "Gretchen, _please-_" I start to plead, but she cuts me off again.

"Uh-uh. Stop." She turns away and pulls out another cigarette. A hurt look flashes on her face for a brief second, but it goes away before I can fully acknowledge it. "Class is probably over for you by now, right? You should…get going."

"What about you? Don't you have-"

"No." She glares even harder at me, if that's even humanely possible. "Now _leave_."

The forcefulness tone in her voice is convincing enough for me to do just that. And by doing just that, I mean running out of there as fast as possible and bursting into tears as soon as my feet touch the gym floor and I'm out of Gretchen's view. I collapse onto the steps on the bleachers and start sobbing, not caring that my mascara is probably smearing everywhere.

What in the world have I done to my friend?

**Next Chapter Preview (forgot to put this in the last chapter, I apologize!): Adyson's mom takes her out to have some fun…but something happens that definitely should _not _have happened.**

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**God, I'm sorry this chapter took so long. :/ I was having a bit of writer's block, and I had to start getting ready to start high school in two weeks (Meap!) I know they're just excuses…but really, they're true. So because of the whole starting high school thing, I'll likely be very busy and therefore not have a ton of time to update. Sucks, I know, but what am I going to do? Drop out? Don't think so.**

**So yeah…what'd you think of this chapter and seeing such a crazy version of Gretchen you probably weren't expecting? Those who read Video Blog Randomness, remember when Aubrey said she saw a girl with rainbow hair at the movie theaters who she thought was Gretchen and no one believed her? Well…that actually _was _Gretchen. XD Yep, I've had this planned for a while. And the whole hair thing is also why she wore that hat for her interview, to cover up her hair and all. **

**And I have to say, I'm proud of myself for coming up with the whole Vienna and Chicago thing. XD Such a Vienna thing to say, no?**


	4. Adyson's New Friends

_**Thursday, September 14**_

_**The Sweetwater Car**_

_**Adyson**_

Okay, I must be dreaming a _really _weird dream right now, because my mom is driving me somewhere. Let me just tell you something: My mother does not drive. I mean, will she to like get groceries or something? Well… yeah. But does she do it to drive to leisurely activities? No, no she doesn't.

And the weirdest thing about this is that I don't even know where the hell she's taking me.

"Okay Mom, you're acting weird," I say pretty much out of the blue, but we've pretty much been silent during this whole car ride anyway. I had to say something.

She glances over at me for a brief second before looking back towards the road. "How am I acting weird?" she asks.

"Uh…because you haven't said anything about where we're going. And normally you don't shut up about where we're going when we're in the car. 'Oh, Adyson, are bananas on the shopping cart list?' 'Adyson, did your brother want the Halo game for his birthday or the other Halo game? Or is there just one?' 'Hey Adyson, remind me to pick up some foot cream for you at the drugstore'."

Mom glares at me, but doesn't say anything regarding my imitating her. Instead, she just sighs before perking up at the sight of a sign. "Oh, there it is," she says cheerfully before flipping on the turn signal, pulling into the parking lot, and turning off the engine.

I peer out before doubling back and staring at the sign. _Danville Bar and Pub_. Yeah, really original and fabulous name, owners of the place. But why in the heck are we _here_?

Mom must have read my mind, or possibly just my face, because she turns and grins at me. "You know how you turned eighteen last week?"

"No, Mom. I know that I've just turned two and am always watching the Care Bears. Yes, I know I'm eighteen."

She rolls her eyes, but other than that ignores my sarcastic remark altogether. "Well, when I was eighteen, and you happened to be almost three years old, my mom took me out to this pub for the first time. I didn't drink anything, since I knew the effects from it…" She pauses before continuing. "So I decided to take you to one for the first time today while we had free time."

"Okay, first off, where's Noah?"

"At a friend's."

"He has friends?"

She glares at me again, and I backtrack. "Sorry, geez. Second off: Hold on. Grandma actually did something more in her life than sit around and drink prune juice all day?"

She sighs. "Yeah, those were the days."

"And third of all…I thought twenty-one was the legal age to go inside of one of these things."

She shakes her head as we begin walking towards the entrance. "Nah, you just have to have a parent or legal guardian or something along those lines with you if you're not drinking age. I just figured this might be fun for you. The entertainment, and all."

She pushes open the door, and the sound of people laughing and shouting is in the air. In the very center is the actual bar, where I see a couple just kind of hanging out and watching football, as well as the bartender serving a few guys beers. Over in the corner is a dartboard, where this group of college-aged or something kids are screaming with laughter every time someone's dart hits the board. It's pretty clear that the one is drunk, but the others, I can't really tell.

It's actually not that big in here, so when Mom and I go to sit down at a table provided here, we're only about a few feet away from the kids. One of the guys there notices us, and after making sure none of his friends are watching, he walks over to us, hands in his pockets except for his thumbs.

"Hey," he greets us. He looks slightly embarrassed. "Sorry if it gets too…noisy in here." Fixing his clearly done up with gel blond hair, he glances down at me, and I feel my cheeks getting warm. Wait, why are my cheeks getting warm? Django's my boyfriend. Why? I… really don't know, but I'm pretty sure I'm not leaving him anytime soon, if ever.

"Oh, it's fine," Mom says, dismissing his comment with a wave of her hand. "We're used to it. Or at least, _I'm _used to it. This is Adyson's first time here."

"Oh, is it?" Gel Boy lifts an eyebrow at me while grinning. Wait, is he turning kind of pink? "Uh, welcome. And you're…how old?"

"Eighteen. She's my mom, so…" I hesitate, not really sure what else to add. Luckily, his grin turns even wider. I can't help but wonder how long he had braces, because he's got some pretty damn nice teeth in that mouth of his.

"Really? Too cool. Thought she was your sis or something."

"We get that a lot," Mom says, flashing him the fake smile she has that means, 'Get the hell out of here.'

"Right…so, yeah. See yas later." He makes a move to turn around, but before doing so pauses to look back at me. "Adyson, right?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm Kyle." He gives me another of his stupid guy grins before hurrying back to his friends, who have started to look at us strangely. I squirm uncomfortably in my seat as my mom starts laughing.

"I think someone has a crush on you, Adyson," she chuckles, and my cheeks grow red.

"_Mom_. You _know _I'm dating Django."

"I know, but-" She's interrupted when the bartender walks up to us. What, waiters aren't allowed here? But whatever.

"Welcome to Danville Bar and Pub," she says cheerfully, almost too cheerfully for what I think of when I think of a bar. "Can I get either of you something to drink?"

I don't think I've ever hated someone so quickly before.

"Just water for both of us, please," Mom says, shooting the waitress another one of her famous looks. This one happens to mean, 'You look creepy and unbelievably stupid right now.' Over the years, I've memorized all of these. They're good for when she doesn't feel like talking to you. Which is often.

"Sure thing, ma'am," Creepy Waitress Lady chirps after scribbling it down on a notepad. What, it's so hard to remember that two people need water? I hate people that do that. There isn't even anyone here except the college kids and the few people sitting at the bar.

After she finally leaves us at peace, Mom tries to catch my eye, but mine are already looking at Kyle. What was it about me that he seemed to like? He was clearly a bit older than me, so it's not like we go to the same school or anything and he just wants to date a cheerleader and be popular. But truth is, even though my friends and I are cheerleaders, we're not that well known around the school. So that couldn't be it, anyways.

"So…" Mom begins, and I finally turn away from my admirer to look back at her.

"So."

"How've you… been lately?" she awkwardly asks me as the waitress practically dances over to give us our drinks. I just push mine to the side since I really don't feel like drinking it right now. I then raise an eyebrow at her question. Since when has she cared about how I've _been_? But I decide to just answer her anyway.

"Uh, fine, I guess."

"Cheerleading okay? Are all of your friends still in it?"

"Meh, it's fine. Gretchen quit, but everyone else is still in it. And there's the other ones that are freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, too, but we don't usually see them until a game or something."

Mom nods before looking down at the little menu the bar/pub provides for alcohol and that kind of stuff. "You know, I could really use some wine," she muses, staring down and biting the inside of her cheek.

"Go for it, then."

"Well…" she hesitates before continuing. "I didn't bring my wallet."

I give her an 'are you serious' look, and she sighs. "Yeah, yeah, Adyson, call me an idiot. I just didn't think I would actually get anything."

"Mom. We're in _public. _When you go out in public, ya bring money. I thought that was pretty obvious."

This next look she gives me means, 'You better shut your mouth before I ground you, missy,' and I quickly do just that, clamping my lips together. "Well, I suppose if you stay here…" she bites her lip as she stands up. "Then I could run to the house and get the credit card."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're leaving me here with all these weirdos?"

"Unless you want to come along."

I know the answer to that immediately. "No, thanks. I'll stay here."

"You sure you'll be all-"

"Of course, Mom. How much trouble can I possibly get in?" The college kids start laughing again when one of the girls in their group misses the target completely.

She sighs. "All right. But I swear to God, if I come back here and you're drunk-"

"_Mom. _I'll be _fine_. You know that time I did was a total mistake on my part. I promised I wouldn't do that again behind your back."

"Okay, okay." She walks over to the door, gives me one last look, and then finally leaves. Glancing over at her as she steps into the car and starts the engine, I prop my feet up onto the table and just focus on relaxing. The ditzy waitress/bartender doesn't seem to care, instead smiling at me like I'm cute.

Kyle, on the other hand, thinks the exact opposite. He slouch-walks over to me and sits down across from me at the table. I raise an eyebrow at him, and he chuckles.

"Relax, kid, I'm not gonna kill you. I was just wonderin' if you wanted to join our game of darts."

"It's _so _fun!" a girl with Ariel-red hair squeals before laughing and hiccupping. Kyle rolls his eyes.

"That's Taryn," he says, shaking his head. "Man, is she a wild one. She's always the one to get the most drunk in here. None of our other friends do."

"You don't say," I reply, staring at the way she's leaning against the wall and giggling hysterically next to this guy that just looks downright bored.

Kyle glances at me again, and I feel myself turning slightly pink again before turning away. "So, um…" he begins before clearing his throat. "Over there also is Max, the other blond, Ali, the brunette, Donavon, the one with black hair, and obviously you've seen Taryn and me."

"So are you all college buddies or something?"

He laughs. "Yeah, we're all juniors. Was that obvious?"

Mustering a small grin on his behalf, I nod.

"Sweet. So you want to join in on our game of darts? I swear, we won't bite."

I think about it for a second. Mom had said not to get drunk, not that I would have wanted to anyways after that whole thing happened in March with Irving, Lilly, and me, but she didn't say I couldn't play darts. So I nod and say, "Sure."

* * *

_**Approximately half an hour later**_

"Dang, Adyson," Ali laughs as I hit the middle of the target again. She tosses her hair back over her shoulder. "How do you _do _that?"

I shrug. "Simple," I state as Donavon steps up for his turn. "Gym class."

"You did this in _gym_ class?"

"Uh huh." I look over at my mom, who sips her wine and nods at me. She came back in here about ten minutes ago and has been watching our game. "Gym's not too bad, except for when we have to run."

Taryn, apparently the only one to have gotten drunk, nods and hiccups again. "Crap, I'm tired," she complains. "My head hurts."

Kyle rolls his eyes at her. "I told you not to drink," he scolds her, as if she's five and has just spilled grape juice on the white carpet. "You _just _turned twenty-one."

"Three months ago!"

"That still ain't gonna cut it."

"Am I allowed to say that I'm getting bored?" Max grumbles. "We need to go to someone's house and do this. Don, you have one, right?"

The Asian shrugs. "Somewhere in the dump of an apartment I have, yeah. Why?"

Max rolls his eyes. "To play darts, stupid," he states, kicking a random soda can. The others all nod, and I bite my lip. There's no way in heck Mom's going to let me out with some random strangers I met barely an hour ago. She's not that stupid.

"I…don't think I'll be able to go," I say, looking away and feeling even more like a baby next to these cool college kids.

"Just ask." Kyle nods towards my mom. His hair kind of gets in his face, but he doesn't seem to care. "I doubt she'll mind. Where do you live?"

"A block away from Maple Drive. You know Phineas and Ferb-"

"Those sweet kids that always build those insanely big things? Yeah, I do. You know them?"

A grin appears on my face before I can stop it. "They're two of my best friends."

His eyes widen, and I feel a sense of pride. I know two guys he thinks are cool. Ding ding ding! I win! "That's awesome," he compliments me. "Yeah, I know where they live. I can just drop you off there, and then you can walk yourself home." He coughs. "I mean, if your mom lets you-"

"Yes, she will." I turn around, and there's Mom with her dyed-with-a-bottle blond hair, smiling. Her wine glass is empty already, which doesn't really surprise me, but I don't say anything about it. "Just go on, hon. Noah and I will both be home. Just be back at around nine or so."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Meh, don't say that. Just get going."

I smile before joining my new college buddies out the door. I figure this ought to be fun.

Little do I know just what I'm getting myself into.

**Next Chapter Preview: Irving returns back in town from Chicago. Ferb discovers something shocking about Perry after talking to Emily.**

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**Yeah…I kind of trolled you in the last chapter. XD We didn't find out what the thing that shouldn't have happened was. This _led up _to what shouldn't have happened instead. I am so mean sometimes. Sorry…you won't find out what happens until the chapter after the next one. Needless to say, you'll all be quite shocked and somewhat horrified.**

**Hopefully this chapter didn't make anyone uncomfortable with mentions of drunkenness and everything. But hey, this fanfic's rated T for a reason, and that reason is for language and for things like that. And Adyson makes a few references to my fanfic _Not the Best Idea_, so if you haven't read that, I would recommend it so you know just what she's talking about in here.**


	5. Lilly Apparently Doesn't Hate Everyone!

_**Saturday, September 16**_

_**The Stephens/Carlson Residence**_

_**Lilly**_

"I can't believe Irving's back," I snort to my best friend Holly Walker as I reach down for my bottle of water. Bringing it to my lips, I chug it down, not caring about the fact that I'm probably going to get hiccups later. I've dealt with far worse things in my near eighteen years.

Beside me, Holly rolls her eyes as she turns off the Kinect 360. "Lilly, I don't like him much either, but he had to come back from Chicago eventually," she reminds me. "No one stays on vacation forever, whether or not we want them to."

"It was glorious, though," I groan as I flop back against the couch, blond ponytail flipping against my face. How it stayed nice and tight during our two-hour long dance-off that's on this old video game console thing, I don't know, because we were sweating insanely. Crap, that probably means my makeup looks weird. Why do I never remember to buy waterproof? "One week without my ex always getting in my way?" I sing the next part. "_Heeeeaven!"_

Holly laughs. "I totally agree with you."

"Because it's so true, right? He just needs to get over the fact that he'll never again have a girlfriend. Why's he so desperate for one, anyways? He's always out there stalking Phineas and Ferb anyway."

She nods before stretching her arms up high and then letting them flop back down. "I'm gonna change in the bathroom and take a shower, if you don't mind. I'll be back."

"Sure thing. And no, I don't mind."

As she leaves, I decide to check my phone awhile. Three messages, one from Phineas, one from Isabella, and one from…ugh, Irving. I delete the last message and decide to listen to Isabella's first.

_Hey Lilly, sorry I couldn't reach you. The phone said you were at Holly's. Did you have fun? Um, anyway, so I just wanted to know if you wanted to join Milly and Katie at my house tomorrow, just for a little get-together or whatever. I've missed you guys and the others ever since school started. So, uh, text me if you want. Bye._

Hmm. Well, she's asking me if I want to hang out with her, Katie, and Milly. None of them are Vienna, Adyson, Ginger, or Gretchen, people I hate with a passion, or Aubrey or Savannah, people that bug me, so I text her back saying, _Sure. What time?_

Almost immediately, she texts back. Sheesh. _I'm _not even that quick when it comes to responding. _2 or 3, IDK. What do u want?_

_Whatever works for u._

_2, then. See ya then. LOL, that rhymed._

_XD Cyas._

I almost put the phone away before remembering that Phineas had left me a message, too. It's a little strange, seeing as we don't talk often anymore, but I let him speak in his cheerful tone anyway.

_Hi, Lilly! Nice talking to you. Or messaging you, I should say. All I wanted to do was say hi, but it appears you're busy, so I'll just say it now. Hi. *laughing* See you at lunch on Monday._

I laugh a little after he finishes the message, just because it's so ridiculous. Who calls these days just to say _hi? _But that's Phineas for you. It's hard for people, even people like me, to despise him.

Yeah, yeah, go on and gasp from shock. Phineas is probably the kind of person you would expect me, a stereotypical blond, popular snob, to hate. But I don't. And there's a good reason for that.

It was when we all were around ten or eleven years old or something. My parents had just been killed in the car crash, meaning that my recently born baby brother Grant and I had to move to Danville and live with my uncle and 112-year old grandmother. Okay, she wasn't really 112, but she was definitely old and not in any way attractive. But anyway, that's not important at the moment. So I had just moved to Danville and had become a Fireside Girl permanently, and I was sitting on my front steps in my ugly uniform, just sort of watching the town move along merrily with their lives when I definitely wasn't.

But that was before I heard bikes screech in front of my house. I squinted my eyes to see Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher parking them, their hair sticking up in the air from being wind-blown. I had to stifle a laugh, because at the time, I was hardly mean to anyone I only barely knew from my fifth-grade class.

"Hi," Phineas said cheerfully, as if riding a bike to someone that was practically a total stranger's house was normal. He sat next to me on the step, Ferb taking the other side, and I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Phineas chuckled.

"Isabella wanted us to come over and welcome you to the town. It's a Fireside Girls rule, I suppose," he explained, and I began to frown. What, Isabella couldn't do it herself? She _was _the troop leader, after all, and a very good one at that.

"She would have done it herself, had she not been sick," he said truthfully. Weird. He must have read my mind. He then smiled at me again and continued. "So how've you been these days?"

How've you been these days? _How've you been these days? _I really had to struggle not to laugh at that one. "Um, okay, I guess," I replied. I couldn't help it, I let out a little snort.

Phineas grinned. "Great! And well, Ferb and I also wanted to come over to talk to you. Where did you move from? Ferb moved here from England when he was little."

Geez, he talked a lot. But I decided not to say anything about that and instead replied, "New York City."

"New York City is the most populous city of the United States of America and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world," Ferb said basically out of nowhere. I blinked at him before returning my attention to Phineas.

"So…yeah." I shrugged. "I've lived here for about a week, but no one really seems to like me."

The redhead's smile faded, and he lifted a brow in confusion. "Why? I like you."

I smiled a little before looking back down at the ground. "I don't know. I'm not like other people, I guess. People say I'm kind of mean sometimes." I decided not to provide more information about my sucky life, seeing as it would most likely freak him out.

"Well, I don't think you're mean," Phineas stated as he stood up, Ferb following his lead. "You don't, do you, Ferb?"

Ferb shook his head no.

"See?" Phineas was now smiling again, and I finally had the strength to smile back. "Just don't listen to anyone that's mean to you, and then you'll be okay." He turned to the person I was pretty sure was his brother or at least his stepbrother. "Let's hit home, Ferb."

And that to this day is why I can't stand to hate either Phineas or Ferb, even though the former talks too much and the latter talks too little, even though in order to see them during the summer I have to see people I _really _don't like, i.e. Irving or one of the people mentioned above. Because even though I clearly stated I wasn't a nice person, and I still am not, they looked past that and still wanted to be my friend.

I can't say that happens too often for me.

"Hey, Lilly, I'm done," Holly calls out, and I hear her step out of the bathroom upstairs and walk down the thick-carpeted hallway. "I assume you want the shower next?"

"Yeah, in a second," I call out in reply. I glance at myself in the mirror, curse myself for _not _using waterproof makeup, and walk swiftly upstairs while wondering what Phineas and Ferb are doing at the moment.

* * *

_**The Flynn-Fletcher Residence**_

_**Ferb**_

"Gosh," Emily groans next to me as she flops back against Phineas' bed. I'm sitting across from her on my own bed, laptop on my lap, and staring at different universities online. "This is quite tricky. _Never_ did I imagine that there were so many medical schools in both the United Kingdom and America."

Since we are both obviously in our last year of school, most of the people in our grade have started to look at different schools. I myself have already narrowed down to a few, but my girlfriend, to put it simply, has not. She wants to be a doctor, and she isn't sure whether she wants to go back to England for school or stay here in America.

"Well," I begin, and she perks up. "You have quite a lot of options here. For instance, New York has quite a few. You wouldn't be far from Vienna." I wink at her, and she rolls her eyes playfully.

"I don't know if I could take living close to her in New York. You _know _how unbelievably barmy she gets whenever she even _speaks _of the place."

"True, true," I reply, scrolling down the screen and peering at the different options as she continues to ramble.

"I mean, she _is _my friend, but I would think she would understand why I wouldn't want to live nearby her. She is just-"

"Em. That's enough," I interject, and she gives me a sheepish grin as I continue. Normally if I were around others, I wouldn't talk anywhere near as much, but with Emily and sometimes Phineas or Isabella, it's different. I can't explain it. "I understand completely."

"Oh, all right." She gives a fake irritated sigh before giggling and falling over onto the bedspread. "If you say so."

I smirk as her before looking back at the screen. "Now, if you would want to go to England for school, you certainly have less options."

Emily bites her lip. "Well…I suppose…" Then, to my bewilderment, she gets up, walks over to my side of the room, and shuts the laptop closed. "You know what? I'm tired of this. It's September; I believe we don't need to be serious during that time period. Just think…in a year, we will be in our respective dorm rooms and nowhere near any of our friends." She grins. "So why should we not relax and enjoy each other while we can?"

I scoot myself closer to her while looking at her lovingly. "That sounds good to me."

She blushes and tries to avoid my gaze, but I don't let her. Instead, I put one hand underneath her knee and the other behind her neck and lift her up, making her shriek. "FERB!"

I ignore her pleads to put me down that are drowning in laughter and calmly carry her downstairs as if it is completely normal for someone to carry their love down a staircase. Or _is_ that normal? I really have no idea.

Mum smiles at me from the kitchen counter as I finally set Emily, who is still giggling, down on the couch. "Oh, there you two are," she remarks. "I was wondering what was going on upstairs."

"Nothing much, Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher," Emily replies in comment while smiling at me. "We were just looking at different colleges on the Internet. So many options."

Mum nods before looking down and frowning at the cake she's frosting. "Ferb, honey, could you look at this? I'm not sure if this line is straight enough. Tell me if it is."

I stand up, walk over, and look briefly at it before nodding and holding a thumb up. She chuckles before reaching up and tousling my hair like I'm still ten years old and at least a foot smaller than her. "Thanks, Ferb. It's Candace's friend Jenny's birthday, and Candace for some reason wanted _me _to make the cake, like I'm this big expert at cake making. Anyway, so I just wanted to be sure the lines on the peace sign were right."

"They are," Emily states, nodding in approval. "I know Jenny will approve of it at the very least."

"Good." Mum sighs in relief. "You know Candace. If I do something wrong, even if it's the _tiniest _thing, she'll flip." She puts it inside a box before picking up her car keys. "Now Ferb, I find you the most trustworthy in this house, so I'll let you be home alone. Your dad is at the grocery store and Phineas is at Isabella's, so if either of them rings the bell, let them in."

I nod.

"Good. And promise me one thing." When I blink down at her, she narrows her eyes. "You two better not get serious in any way, shape, or form while I'm gone. Capiche?"

"_Mum," _I groan as Emily blushes scarlet red.

"I'm just saying. You wouldn't believe some of the things kids your age do these days. It really is sad. Anyway, I need to get going. I'll be back in an hour."

As she shuts the door, I sit down on the couch, moan, and put my head in my hands, acutely aware of the fact that I'm blushing. "Oh, Lord. I apologize for that, Em."

She takes a seat next to me and rubs my arm. "Quite fine. I know she didn't mean to embarrass you. Mums are just like that."

"If you say so…" I sigh and roll my head back over the couch, only to do a double take. Is that…_Perry _jumping into the flower bed Mum keeps by the sink? I turn around and stare as he leaps into it, brown fedora on his head and _standing on two legs_. I gape in shock.

"Ferb? Ferb, are you feeling alright?"

I snap out of it after remembering that Emily's sitting next to me, looking concerned. She's still sitting forward and not looking behind with me, so it doesn't appear that she's seen anything out of the ordinary. I sigh in relief.

"Yes…I'm fine," I fib in reply, and she smiles at me. But I almost don't notice that smile, because I'm still staring at the flower bed that the family _platypus _disappeared into. Where on earth did he go? Why was he wearing a fedora? Why was he standing on two legs and _jumping?_

I'm going to have to confront him later.

* * *

**Next Chapter Preview: Adyson tells Vienna just what happened after she went off to a stranger's house _just _to play a measly game of darts. Sounds innocent, right? Oh, you are so wrong. Warning: Will be insanely shocking and _sort of _mention some inappropriate things…but this is rated for a reason, like I said before. You have been warned.**

**By the way...you _may _have noticed that I leave some things out that will happen in the chapters from my previews. But hey, I have to give you _some _kind of suspense, right?**

**Okay, so to explain the whole backstory with Lilly, Phineas, and Ferb, I received a request before writing this from I believe masterofthez to go in the minds of the PnF gang and have us find out why some of them (like Lilly, Adyson, Ginger, etc.) go to the backyard every day if it means they have to face people they don't like. I figure I'll just have it pop up throughout the story if I remember. So yes, anyway, that was Lilly's. Hopefully it wasn't too random.**

**And yes, now Ferb _kind of _knows Perry's secret. D: Uh oh…but don't worry. We'll come back to _that _issue in a few chapters. I know, aren't I evil?**


	6. Adyson Tells Vienna

**Note: This next chapter is falling out of my comfort zone quite a bit, so if this seems to be sort of…lacking in detail or whatever, I apologize. I just wanted to do something like this because my neighbor went through a similar experience and is now suffering the consequences from it, and I want no one else to go through it. Not really 'suffering', per se, but…you know what, why don't you actually read and find out what happened? Yeah, that would be good.**

* * *

_**One week later, Saturday, September 23**_

_**The Thompson Residence**_

_**Vienna**_

"_Repeat after me," _the female on the recording for vocal warm-ups says in a monotone voice, and I have to do my best not to yawn. _"La, la, la, la, la."_

"La, la, la, la, la," I echo, my voice going slightly deeper with each note.

"_All right. That is it for our vocal warm-ups. Now you are ready to actually sing in a tone that is comfortable for you. If you wish to see more vocal warm-ups, click on the link below."_

Um, no thank you. Honestly, I don't even know why I did vocal warm-ups in the first place. It's not like I need them or anything. And this lady could not have _possibly _been more boring. Singing is supposed to be something you feel from the bottom of your soul. And she _clearly _did not feel that. Hmmph. What a waste of my time.

I get up from my computer desk and walk over to my recording studio. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that that even existed. Mind you, it isn't a _total _studio. It's just a big machine-like thing that Phineas and Ferb made me for my seventeenth birthday last April, and I _love_ it. All I have to do is plug in the karaoke music or start playing my own on the piano, sing along, and it actually sounds like it's from a _studio _when you play it back_. _How unbelievable is that? Seriously, those two are amazing at everything. Not that you didn't already know that.

I clear my throat once before pressing a button on the machine and slipping on my headphones. I've already recorded the music for my latest song from the piano, so now all I have to do is actually record the lyrics, so I sing into the microphone.

_I remember once upon a time_

_There was a story between us_

_The way you smiled, the way you loved_

_But that all changed one day_

_When you told me you were_

"Vienna? Vienna?"

I immediately press the rewind button with a groan as I take my headphones off. _"What, _Mom?" I snap as I tuck the microphone back in its holder. "I was in the middle of recording my latest song."

She rolls her eyes. "And to think you could be doing something far more worthwhile with your time…"

"Mom. We've talked about that. _I'm_ doing what _I_ want to do with my time." Why can she not understand?

"Whatever, V." Mom sighs as she crosses her arms and leans slightly against the doorway. "But anyway, I'm not here just to bug you. Adyson's downstairs, and she told me that she has something she desperately needs to tell you."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

"Yes, really. She told me that she hasn't told anyone yet, but she decided that she finally did need to tell you, since she trusts you the most."

"Okay, wait. She told you all this in the downstairs doorway?"

Mom groans. "You are so frustrating. Yes, she did. Can she just come up now? I'm going over to Linda Flynn's with a few of your other friends' moms"

I shrug. "She might as well. I mean, you kept her _waiting_ down there for God knows how long in order to talk to me."

She makes a face as she steps out of my doorway and begins to make her way down the hallway. "All right. I'll send her up."

* * *

"I can't _take_ it anymore," Adyson moans as she steps into my bedroom, shutting the door behind her. "I have to get it off of my chest. Hey, by the way, do you have any snacks? I've been feeling _really _hungry lately for some reason."

"It's nice to see you, too," I reply sarcastically, pointing to a box of Wheat Thins on my dresser.

She glares at me before grabbing the box, and after munching on a few, collapses onto my green polka-dot bedspread, spreading her arms and legs out. She reminds me a bit of a snow angel. My friend then mutters something into the sheets that I can't hear.

I step closer to the bedspread and lean down to attempt to get a look at her face. "Adyson, what's wrong?"

That's when she finally glances up at me, and I'm shocked to see that tears are staining her face. She sniffles and wipes her nose on her arm.

All right, now I'm getting scared. Adyson _never _cries. The last time I saw her do such a thing was when she stepped on a thumbtack at a Fireside Girls meeting, and that was _years _ago. Even then, she wasn't _sobbing_ the way she is now. "Adyson Diana Sweetwater. _What happened_?"

This only causes her to cry harder, and I bite my lip as I try to contain my patience. I have a song I need to record. "Will you just-"

"It's bad, Vienna," Adyson interrupts before taking a deep breath. She's obviously attempting to stop crying, but I don't know how long _that's _going to take, since she's clearly having a difficult time doing so. "It is _so _bad."

"What. Happened?" I ask, gritting my teeth. Now I'm seriously about to lose my patience.

Adyson, after sighing, sits herself up and buries her hands in her lap. She looks away from me as she speaks again, but I can only just barely hear her. "Remember how I told you like two weeks ago that my mom said she was taking me somewhere I hadn't been before?"

I think about it for a second before nodding.

"Well, it turned out to be the bar and pub downtown."

I snort. "The bar and pub? Seriously? My dad takes me there all of the time. Sometimes I provide live entertainment. People really love listening to that."

She rolls her outlined-with-what-I-think-is-too-much-eyeliner green eyes. "Of course _you _would get a gig like that. But anyway, so we go in there, and there are these kids, three guys and two girls, playing darts in the corner."

"Define 'kids'."

"College-aged. All juniors, the one told me."

I nod. "Okay. Go on, and quickly, too. I _really _need to record my song-"

"Would you stop worrying about your stupid song for half a _second_?" Adyson practically yells in my ear, and I wince as she glares at me the glare that was very likely passed to her from her mother. "This is _serious_."

"Well then, could you _get _to the serious part?"

"Whatever." She takes a strand of her hair and starts playing with it. It's what she does when she's nervous. "So, um, this one guy named Kyle asks me if I want to play with them. I said sure."

"Okay…"

"So we did that for a while, and then this other dude named Max or something complains that the game's getting boring and that we should go to someone's place to do this, that someone being Donavon, the other guy."

I nod slowly, trying to remember everything she's telling me.

"Mom said I could go, so I drove with Ali and Taryn in the latter's car. Taryn had a hangover, so obviously, Ali had to drive to Don's place."

My eyes widen. "Hold on. So you're saying that you got in a car with total _strangers_? Didn't you pay _any _attention to those stupid assemblies we had in elementary school saying not to do that stuff?"

Adyson looks guilty. "Well…yeah, but they were really genuinely nice the entire way there and at the get-together, too. Neither of them was a problem at all."

"Still, Adyson." I shake my head.

"I know, it was stupid, I realize that. But anyway, so we meet up with the guys. It turned out that Ali and Kyle were cousins, so that was how they knew each other, and Max and Donovan were Kyle's roommates and Taryn was Ali's."

"Uh huh."

"So we all go into the guys' apartment, which is actually a pretty decent size. Keep in mind that this was in like the mid-afternoon."

"Uh huh." Honestly, it'll be a miracle if I end up remembering _any _of this let alone just that.

"Don gets out his dart board, and we play that for a little while before Max complains that he's thirsty. So then Kyle gets out 'apple juice'." She makes quote fingers in the air for 'apple juice', and my eyebrows furrow.

"What's with the quotations in the air?" I wonder.

She bites her lip. "Okay, here's where it finally starts getting bad. I didn't find out until later from the girls, but that apple juice was…um…it was actually beer."

Once again, my eye go wide. "Beer? !"

"Yeah…"

"Well, where _were_ the girls at the time if they already knew it wasn't actually apple juice?"

"The kitchen." She shrugs. "They were hungry."

"And that was when Kyle gave you the drink?"

"God, are you even _listening _to me?" Adyson groans and randomly kicks at the ground for no reason. "YES."

"Yes, I'm listening to you. Or at least, I'm _trying _to. What happened after he gave you the drink?"

"Well…um…my head hurt _really_ badly, but he kept claiming that I had just drank too much of the apple juice. My memory's a little hazy after that. All I truly remember afterwards is that-"

"Wait," I interrupt. I get up off of the bed and start randomly walking around, also staring longingly at my recording machine. "Did the beer taste like apple juice or anything?"

"No," she moans. "At least, I don't think so. I don't know why the hell I thought it was apple juice. I'm such a moron sometimes."

"I'm sorry, but really, you were." She makes a face at me as I continue. "So what do you remember afterwards?"

"Ali was driving me home, and it was _really _late. Like, midnight late."

I raise my eyebrows. "Did your mom or brother even notice?"

"Nope. Both were asleep. I also remember that Ali had to drag me to the door, and she kept muttering that she was so sorry about what happened and that she hoped nothing bad would go on afterwards to me. She then left, and I crawled up the stairs, went to bed, and by the next morning, I was kind of okay."

I rub my head, which is starting to hurt from all of this information. "Okay. So she drove you home. What about Taryn?"

"She must've just gone back to their dorm. I don't know. I was drunk."

"Right…and the guys?"

"Max went to bed after a while, and then so did Don. Or it could be the other way around. Remember, my memory's foggy around this time period."

I nod, biting my lip. "But…what about Kyle?"

She turns even farther away, not looking at me. She then takes a deep, long breath that possibly cleared the room of all oxygen. "Okay, now that you said that, I _kind of _ remember what happened with me and him."

"You and him…" I gasp as I realize what she's saying. "Oh no…"

She nods, and I can tell that she's struggling not to cry once again. "Yeah. I…cheated on Django." Before I can say another word, she hushes me. "And don't you dare say I could help it. Vienna, I was _drunk_. And Ali and Taryn were still chatting in the kitchen, so it's not like they could have stopped us."

"Still…oh my God. Adyson, please tell me you didn't go farther than making out on a couch or something."

She blushes a deep cherry red, a red that's even darker than Phineas' hair. "I…honestly don't know," she replies. When I gape at her, she turns away again. "I was-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, drunk for the second time in your life. You've said that several times now. But that doesn't take away your memory of what happened during that time."

"Well, apparently it can," she grumbles. She looks down at the ground. "But Ali _did _say in the car that we had gotten serious when she and Taryn _finally _came back in. I vaguely recall some yelling, possibly some slapping, and then I think they dragged me out of the place, Kyle screaming that they were losers for interrupting…" Her face then turns a codfish white. "Oh no."

"What?"

She doesn't reply, only burying her face into her hands and starting to cry. I don't really know what to do, so I just kind of awkwardly pat her back. "It's okay, Adyson. That Kyle guy was an asshole for getting you drunk and then…erm, serious with him. But you're fine now, so that's all that matters."

Adyson glances up at me and stares at me in surprise, most likely for my use of language. But then she goes right back to sniffling. "Can I use your bathroom?" she asks, letting out a small chuckle that I'm sure is fake when she catches a glimpse of herself in my mirror hanging on my closet door. "I need to wipe my eyeliner off. I look like a monster."

I nod, actually giving her a small smile. "Yeah, you'll want to take that off. We'll keep talking about your night while we're in there."

She moans as she steps off of the bed. "I don't _want _to-"

"But it's important," I argue when we walk into the bathroom that's attached to my bedroom. I hand her a tissue as she wipes her makeup off. "If we keep talking about it, chances are that you'll remember more stuff."

Adyson shakes her head as she rubs one eye free of eyeliner. "I don't know if there _is _anything more to remember, truthfully. I cheated on Django with Kyle, who I thought was a nice guy, but he ended up getting me drunk and…um, _did _stuff with me. And-" Her eyes widen, and she moans as she grabs her stomach. "Ow."

I give her a strange look. "You okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She glances away. "It's probably just cramps…I mean, I've missed it already, but-"

"You've missed your period?"

"I just said that, dumbo." She rolls her eyes and leans into the mirror to get the eyeliner on the other eyelid off. "It's not that big of a deal."

I give her a look as I pull her away from the mirror and look her straight in the eye. "Adyson. You've _missed _your _period_."

"So?"

I groan. "Did you pay _any _attention in health class?"

"Who _does_?"

"I do. Adyson…" I hesitate before continuing, giving her a fearful look. "What if you're pregnant? You _did _say that Kyle had made you guys get serious…"

Her eyes widen just a little before she scoffs. "Vienna, that's ridiculous," she says smoothly. However, I can detect just a hint of fear in her voice as she leans into the mirror and finally takes the last bit of eyeliner off. She looks at herself a second longer before sighing and sitting down on the toilet seat. "Really, I…think I would know by now if that had happened…"

I sigh. "Adyson…it can take a long time for a woman to realize she's pregnant. Two weeks and up, actually. It depends on when she missed her period earlier that month."

Adyson looks at me suspiciously. "Since when are you Miss Pregnancy Expert?" she taunts me.

I flush. "Well, unlike you and everyone else in the grade except for the other geeks, I actually _listened_ to what Ms. Pritchett had to say about the human body."

She shudders. "Gross."

Rolling my eyes, I lean down and press a button that will let us access the drawers of the sink. On the screen, I then select 'private items', opening the door to that section. You have to love these conveniences that came out in 2016. Anyway, I grab a box, take one of the items in it out, and thrust it towards my best friend. "Here."

She looks down at it, and then at the box. She repeats this sequence once again before staring back up at me. "What the hell is this? A_ pregnancy_ test?" She forces out a laugh. "Vienna, please. I'm not pregnant."

Anger rushes up inside of me. How is she not in any way concerned about what the results on that test could be? "Adyson, _please_. The signs are there. The craving for snacks, the stomachache you had a minute ago, the missed period." I look at her harder. "You _have _to take it."

She once again glances down at the little white stick in her hand, but this time, instead of scoffing, her hand shakes and she almost drops it, but I luckily catch it before it makes contact with the floor. Adyson then sniffles and covers her face with one of her hands. "God, V…what if I _am _pregnant? I-I'm not _capable _to do that. I _just _turned eighteen-"

"I know," I say gently, putting the stick on the counter.

"And how am I going to tell Django? My mom? My _brother_? What about the school? They'll all think I'm a slut or something like that…"

"Adyson, look at me." She does, and I stand up and pace a little around the bathroom, but always keep my eyes on hers. "No matter _what _that test says, just know that I'll support you throughout this entire thing." I'm only vaguely aware of the fact that a few tears are falling down my face as well. "Even if Django breaks up with you for the fact that you accidentally cheated on him, I'll be there. I'm sure most of our friends, if not all of them, will be there. If you end up being pregnant…" I give a shaky breath. "We'll support you."

She gives me probably the saddest smile I've seen in my life. She sighs before getting up and examining the pregnancy test. "All right, I'll take it," she says before frowning. "But how do you take one of these suckers anyway?"

"You pee on it."

Her sad look immediately turns into her signature look of disgust. "_WHAT?"_

Even though the situation is severe, I can't help but chuckle. "You pee on it," I repeat.

"Ugh. So then how long do I have to wait?"

"Ten minutes."

"Ten _minutes_? !"

"Yes. There's a clock out here. Come out here when I tell you to."

* * *

_**Ten extremely torturous minutes later**_

"It's done," I announce when the digital clock hits the time of 4:48.

"Finally," she moans, stepping out of the bathroom. I notice that she's clutching the test in her hand, and I gulp.

"Okay…so I assume you haven't looked at it yet?"

"No." She squeezes her eyes shut. "I want you to do it."

Say what?

"Really V, I don't know if I can take it. Please?"

With a sigh, I snatch the test out of her hands, still not looking at what the screen says. "Fine. When I count to three, I'll look at the results. Ready? One…"

She winces.

"Two…"

She squeaks.

Taking a very deep breath, I say the last number. "Three." Quickly, I turn the test over, and my eyes widen. I clap my hand over my mouth and sink to the floor. I seriously think I'm about to vomit. Or faint. Or both.

"What?" She stares at me, expression turning more and more frightened with every passing second.

"It…says positive…"

**Next Chapter Preview: Isabella attempts to bring the Gretchen she knows back, and Django notices that Adyson's acting weird at lunch.**

* * *

…**Yep, this is pretty much what my neighbor went through. And now do you guys see why I was so afraid of writing this chapter? Really, I had no clue how I was going to write a topic this serious, and I still don't. I guess I'll have to wait and see.**

**So Adyson went out with strangers, and thanks to her thinking that beer was apple juice and fooling around, she's now pregnant with only Vienna knowing. At least, for now… I have to wonder _just _what she's going to do.**

**Nah, scratch that. _I _know, but no one else does. And man, this was a long chapter.**


	7. Django Gets Worried

_**Monday, September 25**_

_**Somewhere in the Danville High School Hallway**_

_**Isabella**_

Technically, I'm supposed to be in the cafeteria at the moment, laughing with my friends at a joke or wishing Phineas had the same lunch as me like I have for the past two weeks. But I can't worry about either of those things right now. I need to find Gretchen, who is presumably under the bleachers.

Ever since she was so mean to me when I came to see her for the first time in months, I've been afraid of going back to her. What on earth would I say? What on earth would I _do_? But now I think I've come up with a plan. A plan that will bring the Gretchen I've known since preschool back.

After checking to make sure no one else is in the gym, I push open the heavy doors and let myself in. I peek around at the yellow and red décor before slipping under the bleachers, clutching the item I'm about to show my supposed former best friend.

And sure enough, there she is, smoking another cigarette and looking at stuff on her phone, which is plugged into a wall into an electrical outlet. I also see a bag full of stuff in the corner, but I decide not to say anything about it and instead go, "Um…hi, Gretchen."

Clearly startled, she drops the phone onto the floor, also pulling out the plug with it. She pushes back her multicolored hair before turning and glaring at me. "Nice to see you, Isabella," she informs me, her tone dripping with sarcasm. She plugs the phone back into the wall.

With a gulp, I take a step back. "I'm…really sorry to bug you, Gretchen, but-"

"But what? But I want you to be a comrade of mine? But I believe you need to start being more reputable and less disreputable? But you are so completely corrupt I can't even stand to look at you anymore?"

"Um…what?"

She rolls her eyes. "You must really think I don't remember my advanced vocabulary. Wow." She chuckles before blowing out a puff of smoke. "That's almost uproarious."

I decide not to say anything regarding that last word. "Um…yeah, right. I apologize."

"Whatever." She looks up at nothing in particular before finishing off her last part of the cigarette and throwing it down on the ground, stamping it flat with her boot. She then takes a seat on the cold, wooden floor, crossing her arms.

"So…um…" I glance around a little more before returning my attention to Gretchen. "Is this where you live?"

She simply nods. "Yep," she informs me in a way that's not friendly, yet not unfriendly either.

"But what do you do about food and showers and stuff?" I wrinkle my nose. "Please tell me you _do _take those-"

"They have some in the locker rooms, idiot," she interrupts, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "During the night, I take them in there. And the cafeteria has food. You know that."

"Not _good _food."

She shrugs. "Well, what am I going to do? Stop eating? It won't be good for my health, now would it?"

A thought then suddenly creeps into my mind, and my eyes widen. "Gretchen, your family…do they know about this? You…living here?"

My former friend looks slightly panicked for half a second, but the look goes away before I can truly acknowledge it. She runs her foot up and down along a piece of wood for a little before sighing. "Well…they know I'm gone, and that I'm okay. I sent them a text," she replies, not looking at me. "But they don't know where I am." Finally looking back up at me, she narrows her eyes. "And you _better _not tell them, either."

"I won't," I hurriedly reply, still keeping the item behind my back.

"I _mean _it." She stands up and slowly backs me into a corner. Panicked, I drop the item, but Gretchen luckily doesn't notice. She lifts my head up with her finger and glares at me, the dark makeup all over her eyes making the situation feel even more intense. With a gulp, I set back as she continues to speak. "If you tell my parents or _either_ one of my sisters, since they both also go to this school, where I am, you _will _suffer many consequences. Is that understood?"

"Yes," I squeak, since I just want to get out of there. "It's understood."

Gretchen then releases me, and I sigh in relief before quickly hurrying out of there and to the bathroom so I don't really lie to my friends, leaving the item behind right by the corner.

* * *

_**Danville High Cafeteria several minutes later**_

_**Django**_

"Man, Isabella," Ginger comments to the raven-haired girl, who practically collapses in her chair. "That was a _long _bathroom break."

"Long line," she informs us. A bit of sweat is dripping down her forehead, and she wipes it away with her hand. "What were you guys talking about?"

"The difference between frying pans and griddles," I tell her, suddenly starting to feel stupid. "Buford came up with the idea."

"Buford love pancakes," the burly guy proclaims before he's about to pick up his pancake. However, he notices Vienna glaring at him, so with a sigh, he picks up his fork and knife and begins to use them, making her smile a little before turning back to Adyson, who surprisingly hasn't touched much of her food. I try to catch her eye since she's sitting across the table, but she won't look at me for some reason. It's probably because of my stupid hair that won't stop looking like a rat's nest. No, that's ridiculous.

Next to me instead are Aubrey and Milly, the latter taking up a conversation with Emily and the former looking cheerful as usual.

"Alright," Buford states as he puts his pancake in his mouth with the fork under Vienna's watchful eye. After swallowing, he claps his hands once. "Back to the difference between frying pans and griddles. Pancakes are made on griddles, right?"

"One time, I ate pancakes at a restaurant," Aubrey announces, her eyes wide. "And I started laughing, but…then I started choking." She cocks her head. "So the waitress made me leave."

Everyone at the table turns and looks at her strangely, even Adyson and Vienna, who looked like they were having a pretty important discussion that couldn't be interrupted. Buford coughs. "Um…yeah, thanks Aub."

Aubrey beams. "You're welcome!"

"So…frying pans and griddles. What's made on frying pans?" He points to Milly. "Go."

"Um…fish?" Milly wonders.

"Kay. How 'bout-"

"Buford, this is stupid," Vienna groans, sneaking another glance at Adyson, who actually looks kind of pale. What are those two _doing _that they have to keep so secret? "No one cares about the difference between frying pans and griddles. Frying pans make pretty much everything, and so do griddles, for the most part."

Buford looks sheepish at being scolded by his girlfriend. "Fine…" he mutters, not looking at her.

Vienna, on the other hand, looks satisfied as she continues to whisper with Adyson, who _still _hasn't touched her food. It's worrying me. "Hey, Milly," I whisper to the curly-haired brunette next to me, who turns around when she hears her name.

"Hmm?"

"Don't you think Adyson's acting weird? I mean, normally she's _wolfing _down that food like she hasn't eaten in a century, and now? Zip. Nothing. Don't you think that's _weird_?"

Milly simply just shrugs. "Maybe she's just not feeling well," she suggests quietly, glancing over at my girlfriend with a slightly concerned look. "I mean, Ad doesn't get sick often, but she _is _accident-prone. Maybe something whacked her on the head, and she's feeling woozy."

"Maybe…" I bite the inside of my cheek. "But-"

The bell to signal the end of lunch then rings, startling everyone like it normally does since it's so darn loud. "Ooh, the ice cream truck!" Aubrey exclaims, excitedly jumping out of her seat and giggling. "Yay!"

Ginger rolls her eyes at her, but being the oblivious person she is, she doesn't even notice as she skips out of the cafeteria. Isabella joins Emily and Milly's conversation as they walk out, and Vienna and Buford attempt to hide the fact that they're holding hands, but fail at doing so. That's when I spot Adyson and walk swiftly over to her. "Hey, Ad," I say quietly so no one else hears. "How've you been?"

She glances up at me briefly before staring back down at the floor. "Not too good," she replies, and my eyebrows furrow.

"Really? What happened?"

She shrugs. "Nothing good, that's all I'll say." I notice that she's beginning to walk faster, and I struggle to keep up with her. We just so happen to have the same History class next together, so I don't have to worry about getting too far from my own classroom, thank God.

"Adyson, please," I plead. "Something's wrong with you. I can tell. What-"

"It's none of your business, Django," she snaps. Her face then softens, but only a little. "Look, I'm sorry, but I…_really _can't tell you. It's…personal stuff you can't know."

I bite my lip. Why can't I shake the feeling that she's hiding something? But I decide not to question it, since we're entering our classroom right now with a few minutes to spare for once, most likely due to the fact that we _walked _so freaking fast.

"Again, I'm sorry, but it's not something you can know," she insists as she sits herself down at the desk next to mine. We were lucky enough to be able to sit by each other instead of with Irving, who for some reason wasn't at lunch today, or Ginger, who Adyson apparently can't stand for reasons unspecified. "I-I really can't say anything." She's clearly trying to avoid my gaze.

Sighing in irritation, I reach into my backpack and pull out my binder. "Fine," I state, reaching into my folder and taking out the homework we had to do that weekend. "I won't make you say why you're upset."

Adyson nods just as the bell rings again and some students hurry into the room. "Thank you."

And that's when our conversation ends, because Mr. Hollinger is going up in front of the class and is probably going to make us take notes about a bunch of crap no one really cares about. During class, I continuously sneak peeks over to my girlfriend, but for once, she's actually paying attention, chewing on her pencil, gazing up at the board, and writing stuff down.

Maybe everything _is _okay for her, and I'm making a fool of myself by even being concerned at all. But why do I have this deep feeling that it's something a _lot _more serious?

**Next Chapter Preview: Ferb confronts Perry about being a secret agent. What will Perry do?**

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**Oh, Django…if only you knew…**

**By the way, guys, I have to say that I wasn't surprised by your reactions to the last chapter. I mean, PnF doesn't cover teen pregnancy/rape like Adyson's and my neighbor's situations. It just doesn't. But the reason I wanted to do it for this story is because the subject is _very_ serious, and are people _really _going to listen to boring assemblies at school talking about it? Pffft, no. But will they if it dives into a universe they're comfortable with and are familiar with the characters and all that? I think so. So that's why this subject is in here, because I want people to be aware of it and the consequences that it comes with. That's all.**

**And in exactly an hour and a half, I'll be watching Where's Perry Part 2. Who's super psyched about it? *raises hand***


	8. Ferb Finds Out More

_**Wednesday, September 27**_

_**The Flynn-Fletcher Residence**_

_**Ferb**_

I can't sleep.

All right, I suppose that makes sense, considering the fact that it's pretty early for me and Phineas to even be in our bedroom, but I'm exhausted. I had to attempt to tutor Aubrey in science, since she still didn't understand the difference between egg yolks and chicks, but to no avail. She _still _didn't understand. So even though I want to be sleeping at the moment, I instead have to listen to Phineas ramble to me about not being able to invent for the week due to schoolwork.

"I swear Ferb, I am going to _scream _soon if I can't tell anyone anything about what I want to do," he informs me, glancing down at Perry. The platypus, or, ahem, something _secret _we clearly aren't supposed to know about, is curled up beside him on his bed while I sit down on mine tinkering with the paper airplane maker I made myself a few days before. "So can I _please _tell you?"

I shrug. I never mind when he wants to rant about not being able to invent. I myself go crazy when I can't invent anything, but unlike Phineas, who _only _likes making larger inventions, I just make little things during the times I can't do those. Like this paper airplane maker, which I now realize by examining it further that it could possibly be advanced. So I grab a screwdriver and mess around with it as he starts talking.

"So Ferb, I was thinking that on Saturday, when everyone comes over, we can do something like a huge popsicle amusement park. It'll remind us of summer, since popsicles are things typically eaten during the summer!" He grins at me as he pulls out his notebook and shows it to me, displaying a sketch of what he wants done, and it actually looks pretty good. "I mean, I know _you're _usually the one to plan it all out on a blueprint, but since we haven't done anything big in a while, I wanted to do it this time. Is that okay?"

I nod.

"Cool. Thanks, Ferb! Hey, by the way, did you feed Perry today? He's been extra clingy to me lately for some reason." My brother smiles at the animal before reaching down and stroking his head. "Not that I mind or anything. You're a good pet, Perry."

I have to do my best not to snort or even make any form of reaction. Instead, I simply just nod, tight-lipped.

"Okay. I'm gonna go down to the kitchen and make some kind of a prototype for this. Not that we really need it…" He awkwardly hesitates before continuing. "But I'm bored. And boredom, as you know, is something up of which I will not put. So…yeah." He scurries out of the room, clutching the notebook in his hands.

As soon as the door shuts behind him, I calmly walk over to the other side of the room and fold my arms, staring down at Perry, who merely just blinks up at me. Sighing, I realize that I'm probably going to have to be more verbal to someone other than Emily for once, even if that someone is my anthromorphic platypus. "Care to explain anything?"

Perry chatters.

"Like…hmm, I don't know. Why you jump in flower beds behind sinks on two legs rather than all four?"

His eyes widen, but only the slightest bit.

"Oh, so now I'm pursuing your interest? I can see it in those eyes of yours. Eyes that just so happened to not be cross-eyed when you were jumping into the flower bed. Oh, while also _wearing a fedora_." I uncross my arms and instead give Perry the most intense look I can muster.

Now Perry's looking panicked.

"Just admit it. You're _not_ who you claim to be."

Finally, with a sigh, he uncrosses his eyes and stands up on his two hind legs, slowly putting his dark brown fedora on his head. As I stare at him, I shake my head and look at the platypus again, whose face is downcast. He refuses to look at me.

I awkwardly pat him on the back, still flabbergasted at what's going on. When I decide that my patting on the back is getting to be too much, I pull my hand away, and we kind of just sit there in silence for a minute, absorbing everything that just happened. Perry had to reveal himself to me after I confronted him, and I still don't understand exactly what he _is_.

When I repeat this information to him, he finally looks back up at me, tears glistening in his eyes, making me blink repeatedly and doing my best not to do the same. He takes a deep breath, grabs my hand, and starts pulling me off of the bed. While this startles me, I don't question it since I've seen many stranger things in my life before. Like a giant floating donut.

I carefully open the door after he directs me to, and we walk hand-in-hand down the hallway into Candace's old room. The walls are still as pink as ever, and there's her bed, but pretty much everything else about the room has been stripped of and taken over to her new place that she shares with Jeremy, her husband since this past summer, and her two-year old daughter Amanda.

But anyway, Perry leads me over to Candace's old window seat, letting go of my hand in the process. He then lifts up the pillow, revealing a surprisingly large hole underneath. He beckons me to join him before jumping down the hole. What, so his hobby is to jump down random openings in the house? But I figure that in order to find _that_ out, I'm going to have to follow him. So I climb up onto the window seat (very awkwardly, I must add, since I'm so tall) and fall down the hole.

Landing on a chair, I look around at the room, my eyes wide. It is very large in width, and full of what look like…_spy _gadgets? There's a hovercraft in one corner along with what looks like an elevator, and in front of me is a gargantuan sized screen with something like a keyboard in front of me, only instead of letters, there's buttons. Looking nervous, Perry gently pushes me off of the chair to sit there instead, presses one of them, and an old man's face pops up on the screen.

"Why in the world do these things always happen to me…" he mutters to himself as he looks away and adjusts his obviously faux mustache. He then takes a look at the screen, and his eyes widen. "Agent P!"

Agent P?

"You do know that you already defeated Doofenshmirtz today, right? Or is there something you know of that I don't about him? He hasn't built another other-dimension-inator or anything, has he? I _am _kind of getting into my older years, unfortunately, so some things are getting hard to remember-"

Perry, or should I say, _Agent P, _looks away from the screen as he pulls me back into view. I try to catch his eye, but he won't let me. On the screen, the old man's eyes widen. "Great googly-moogly!" he shouts, putting his hands on top of his head. He stares down at me with a look of horror. "Agent P, this isn't good. Not good at all."

The platypus rolls his eyes in irritation, and I look up at the screen with great confusion. What's going _on_?

"CARL!" the man yells, and a guy who looks to be in his mid-twenties or so appears on screen, looking as confused as I feel.

"What, sir?" Carl asks him, looking annoyed. "All I was doing was looking at the camera lenses-"

"No time for that now, Carl," the man snaps. He then glances down at Perry, who still looks tense and uneasy, and sighs. "Agent P, just know that I'm not angry at you, since we _do _still have Doof's amnesia-inator from seven or eight years ago, which will make this problem easily fixable."

What? Who's Doof? And what the bloody heck is an amnesia-inator?

"But how on earth did your owner find you like this?"

"I caught him," I speak up, and the old man looks down at me, clearly surprised by the fact that I actually know how to speak. This happens often for me, so I don't comment on it. "He was sneaking into one of his many holes in the house that must lead to down here, and I saw him doing it. It was a week and a half ago."

The man rubs the bridge of his nose before sighing. "First off, I realize that I still haven't given you my name. It's Major Francis Monogram, but leave my first name out when you're addressing me as I speak. Second of all-"

"So wait, sir," Carl interrupts. "This is one of Agent P's owners, correct?"

Major Monogram rolls his eyes, clearly irritated with whom I assume must be his intern. "Yes, yes he is. Ferb Fletcher, age seventeen. He caught Agent P escaping here. By the way, which entrance was it?"

"The flower bed," I inform him. "By the sink."

He nods. "Good to know. Carl, make a note of that."

"Will do, sir."

"By the way," I interject, suddenly starting to frown. Perry looks up at me with a slightly panicked look, but I don't stop. I _have _to know just what's going on. "Can someone explain all of this to me? I'm very confused."

Major Monogram and Carl look at each other, both biting their lips. The former then sighs for the umpteenth time since I've gotten here and scratches his head. "Basically…" he hesitates, and continues after about a minute. "When pets here in the O.W.C.A., the Organization Without a Cool Acronym-"

I raise an eyebrow.

"I know, odd name, but it speaks the truth. Anyway, so if they are discovered to be secret agents by their owners, they're typically taken away and transferred to another family. We can't have the owners knowing too much."

I gape and look over at my pet, but he still refuses to look at me.

"Luckily, in this situation, you are fine since Agent P's nemesis built an amnesia-inator to erase people's memories. So we've been using that on all of the agents' families in which that has happened. Actually, on you, we've already-"

Perry chatters, giving Major Monogram a glare that could burn steel.

"Oh, um, I apologize, Agent P," he says lamely, glancing sheepishly down at him. "Do you not want your owner to know that?"

The platypus shakes his head no, and I decide not to question anything.

"So anyway, Ferb…that is pretty much what happens now. So if you would care to step in front of that device over there-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait," I interrupt. I wouldn't normally be so rude, but I have to make something clear. "How much of my memory will be lost?"

Major Monogram shrugs, and holds up a very thick notebook. He flips through it and lets his finger trail down a certain page before tapping it lightly. "Well, according to our notes given to us- don't ask about those, by the way- you discovered Agent P's secret…eleven days ago, so that's how much memory you will lose. Carl, get yourself seated by the machine, and be sure to fire the beam into the correct lair. Poor Agent E's owner still has memory loss from three years ago where we should have fired into Agent W's."

"Right away, sir," Carl quickly says to the major from behind the camera. I hear footsteps and assume that he's going over to the machine at the moment. Major Monogram watches him carefully before turning back to me.

"You're all right with doing this?" he clarifies, and I shrug as I step in front of the laser the way he asked me to earlier.

"If it's for the best, then yes."

"That's good. I would hate to separate Agent P from you and your brother. I know how much of an…emotional attachment you have to each other." Perry finally looks at me when I reach my destination, and we both share a small smile before I look directly into the laser and hear the major give his command to the intern to hit it and for Perry to get into his regular platypus form.

I hear Carl press a button, and then a bright white beam shoots out towards me. After all of the white fog disappears, I stumble back a little, blink a few times, and then look back towards the screen, where Major Monogram still sits.

"Did it work, sir?" Carl wonders, going up in front of the camera. I can feel all six other eyes in the room staring at me expectantly, and I gulp.

"No…" I say slowly, unable to process what just happened.

Major Monogram's eyes widen, as do Perry's, though he still stays in his normal mode. "It…didn't work?" he echoes, glancing worriedly at Carl.

I only shake my head, the crushing blow in my stomach feeling worse and worse every second.

"Carl, are you _sure _you fired the beam into the right room?" he demands to the intern, who immediately presumably hurries back to the machine.

"I'm positive," he insists off-screen, sounding very concerned. "The amnesia-inator makes it pretty clear on the screen which room the beam was fired into. It says 'Into Agent P, Perry the Platypus', Lair.' And also, for further evidence, there was quite a lot of fog in there."

Monogram rubs his head again. "Well…I don't know what's wrong with it," he finishes, glancing sympathetically down at me. "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid you'll have to-"

"Please," I plead, actually getting down on my knees, making everyone looks startled, the major especially. I feel childish doing this, but if it means being able to keep my pet, I'm all for it. "I swear I can keep a secret. I honestly never talk this much. Right, Perry?"

The platypus, looking stunned, nods slowly.

"I won't tell anyone. Not Phineas, not my parents, not Candace, or Isabella, or Emily, or any of my other friends, or-"

"Ferb," Monogram chuckles, holding his hand to his mouth. It's clear that he's struggling not to burst into laughter, which irritates me. What could possibly be so hilarious that he has to start expressing amusement in such a riotous manner? He continues speaking, still snickering. "I was going to say that I was terribly sorry you had to keep something this big to yourself, but until we get this –inator of Doof's fixed, you'll have to keep Agent P's secret a secret."

What? Perry and I look at each other, both equally stunned, and the major continues, giving me a small smile.

"First off, it's not your fault the machine went bonkers, so we can't necessarily punish you for that. Second of all, we have noticed over the past twelve years that you're a particularly silent person, and quite an intelligent one, at that."

I shrug.

"So I think that we can trust you with the secrets of the O.W.C.A. for the next several months or so. Agent P is rightfully yours, unless you tell _anyone, _and I mean _anyone_. Is that understood?"

I nod eagerly and catch Perry's eye. He's grinning, and I smile back.

"All right. The both of you return to your place of residence, and if you have any questions, Ferb, feel free to come down and ask. Not all of the time, though. You're lucky I was even here this time." He glares off the screen. "_Someone _thought one of the camera lenses had broken, and I almost had a heart attack."

"Sir, it's important that we check that the camera lenses are okay," Carl protests, his nasally voice going even higher. "I wasn't sure!"

Major Monogram groans. "Nearly thirteen years here at the agency, and you _still _can't tell the difference between a good camera lens and a bad one."

"I can_ so_-"

"Never mind that for now. Anyway, so come down here to come to me, but never accompany Agent P on any of his missions. Understood?"

I nod once again.

"All right. Monogram, out!" The screen goes black, and I glance over at Perry. He's still grinning, and I walk over, awkwardly bend down, and hug him, in which he hugs me back. As we sit in that position for the next minute, I think of what Major Monogram told me, that I couldn't tell a single person of Perry's secret, or Perry would be taken away and shipped to another family, no question. I can't bear the thought of that happening. He belongs to our family, no one else.

Besides, how hard could it possibly be to keep _this _secret when I've never told any other one?

**Next Chapter Preview: When Adyson has trouble doing some of the jumps and other moves at cheerleading practice, Isabella, the captain, confronts her. Just _what_ will Adyson say to her?**

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**I needed a chapter with a happy ending for once, okay? I just did. Since, as some of you may already know, I start school tomorrow (which _really _sucks, since it means I won't be able to update as often), I needed to brighten my mood a little. Luckily, writing the ending of this chapter helped. Perry is so adorable when he wants to be, isn't he?**

**But yeah, now Ferb knows Perry's secret and will be forced to keep it for a little while. Hopefully, this won't be too much of a problem, if _any_ kind of a problem. Or _will_ it? Looks like we'll have to wait and see.**


	9. Isabella Wonders Why and How

_**Friday, September 29**_

_**Danville High Gym/ Locker Room**_

_**Adyson**_

"Make sure to do this fast, girls. The ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders are already dressed and ready to go," Coach reminds us from the doorway of the locker room before disappearing back into the gym, where we practice our cheers for our upcoming football and basketball games that will be happening soon. We always try to change into our uniforms quickly, but for some of us, that isn't easy. I'm using the bathroom since I finished getting ready ten minutes ago, but it's pretty clear to me who is saying what even though their voices are muffled through the wall.

"Hold on, my ponytail's not tight enough. _God, _I hate this so much. Can I quit anytime soon?"

"Where's my dark pink eye shadow? No, not _that _dark pink, the other dark pink. Ooh, here it is! No, wait, that's not it. Maybe I need to buy more."

"I can't waste my voice trying to yell the way Coach insists we do. I have a cover of a song I need to record tonight, from Phantom of the Opera."

"Okay, seriously, even my dance uniforms aren't as tight as this shirt is."

In order: Savannah, Lilly, Vienna, and Katie. Not that that wasn't obvious.

I walk out of the bathroom stall after washing my hands and nervously look down at my stomach. Thankfully, it's still pretty much flat. Vienna's still the only person who knows, and I can't risk anyone else, especially not Ginger or Lilly or any other one of the gossips in the school, finding out. I'm not ready.

"Hey, Adyson," Isabella greets me from the bathroom sink, where she's wiping all of her makeup off so it doesn't get all sweaty. Smart. I did the same thing earlier.

"Hi, Isabella." I take the time to check my ponytail, which is nice and secure. "So this sounds lame, but is school okay for you? I know you don't have any classes with Phineas, so I was just making sure."

She sighs before shrugging. "Well, yeah, of course I miss him. Why wouldn't I? But it's not like we always had the same classes together for all of our school careers, anyway. And we're definitely going on different paths for college. He's going into engineering or something of that sort, and I want to be a journalist."

I nod. "Sounds cool." I suddenly realize what I said and backtrack. "For you, I mean, not your relationship."

She laughs. "No, I know what you meant. Ever since I wrote for the Fireside Girls gazette, journalism has always interested me. I can't explain it." She studies my face, and I try to look upbeat and excited about the upcoming practice, but truthfully, I'm not. Not that I'm _ever _excited for it, but this is the first real practice we've had all season since I found out I was, um…pregnant. I don't know if I'll be able to do all of the moves. "Something bothering you, Adyson? Something about you seems…off, somehow. I've noticed it since last Sunday when you didn't show up at Phineas and Ferb's for their latest project."

My eyes widen. Isabella must be more observant than I give her credit for. But she _is _right. I wasn't there, but that was because I was so depressed after V told me the pregnancy test said positive that I locked myself in my room for the next day and a half, sat in a corner clutching the old bear I had that I hadn't touched since I was six, and just cried. Cried because I was too young to be in such a situation, cried because Kyle had tricked me into getting serious with him, and cried because it just _had _to be me he met at that bar Mom took me to.

"Adyson? Adyson?"

I snap back into reality and blink a few times to see Isabella staring at me in concern, in which I give a nervous chuckle. "Oh, um…sorry. Just…thinking about…our upcoming practice!" I give a fake holler. "Whoo-hoo! Danville Lions! Yay!"

Isabella giggles before stepping away from the mirror and adjusting her long sleeved red undershirt worn under the tank top thing we wear over top. It's super tight, which is why I was so concerned about my stomach a few minutes ago. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're finally getting into the school spirit." She then claps her hands. "Girls, are we all ready, now?"

"No," Aubrey whines.

"There's like, _no _time to get into this uniform," Holly complains as she ties her sneaker.

"Seriously," Milly agrees, looking worriedly towards the doorway.

"I'd rather that Coach give us at least five more minutes." Emily adds with a frown. "It's not that difficult of a thing to do."

Isabella smiles the smile of a preschool teacher trying to make her students stop whomping each other with blocks. "Well, girls, that's not going to happen, unfortunately, due to the fact that the girls in the other grades got here more quickly than us. We're going to have to step up our game and just deal with the fact that we're not going to have time to reapply all of our makeup and put lotion and perfume on before we start sweating like crazy." She glares at Lilly as she says this, and the blond looks up from putting on her fake eyelashes.

"What?" she asks obliviously, and Isabella rolls her eyes.

"No time for that. My point is that we _all _signed up for this as freshmen, and because of that, we have to do what's supposed to be done to be a team. Gretchen, as you all know, quit…" For some reason, she bites her lip and looks away briefly, but then focuses her attention back on us. "But no one else _is_ unless you feel that you can't be part of a team for one more year. Is that too much to ask for?"

My stomach lurches, since it kind of _is _to me health wise, but everyone else nods, some of us sheepishly. "Yes, ma'am."

Isabella nods in approval. "Great. So finish up whatever you have to do for the next minute. And one more thing." She walks over to Lilly, and without any warning, rips her fake eyelashes out, causing the blond to shriek.

"OW!" she cries, holding her hand to her eye. "What the hell-"

"Lillian Carlson, there's no reason whatsoever that you need to put _fake eyelashes _on during _practice_," Isabella scolds her, and Lilly rolls her eyes, or eye, since the other one is covered up by her hand. "It would be different if it were an actual game, but we're just practicing."

"Whatever." Now Lilly looks just downright pissed.

Isabella flashes her a fake smile before looking at the rest of us, who are all gaping in surprise by her acts, but the raven-haired girl just shrugs. "Hey, at least now I put my Ripping Things Out Quickly patch to good use. Let's go, girls."

Still stunned by what just happened and that Isabella was able to do something so out of character, we stand up from our seats on various benches in the locker room and follow her out the door, Lilly being last, and when we reach our destination, Coach smiles at us. "Great to see you actually made it out."

"It took some hard work," Isabella informs her, glancing again at Lilly, who does not look back at her. "But we did it."

"Good thing you did, too. I was seriously about to start practice without you." Coach blows her whistle. "Into positions, everyone! You know the drill from our individual practices where I separated you by grade. Captains in the front, the rest take the spots I assigned you. Go!"

We all scramble to get to our respective spots, me to the very left since I'm one of the tallest, if not _the _tallest, girls here. The smaller girls go towards the center of the long line we make since Coach believes it helps us stand out more. Whatever. I don't get it, but hey, she's the boss.

"All right, so girls, go through the routine I taught you individually. It's the same cheer, and the same moves, so it's no issue whatsoever. And when it's time for the pyramids, you now how that goes, one pyramid per grade level. Understood?"

"Yes, Coach," we all reply in a bored manner except for the captains, who all actually look energetic. How they do, I don't know.

She frowns at us briefly for a second, but then goes back to her fake smile. "Great. So show your moves to me that we're doing for the next game, and then I'll tell you what I think. Got it?"

"Yep," we reply with no emotion once again.

Coach ignores it this time. "All right. And…go."

We do some of our stupid hand and arm motions in the air as we start chanting the latest stupid cheer she wrote.

_We are the Lions,_

_Hear us roar!_

_Let us win,_

_And let us soar!_

Honest to God, could you _get _any more dumb? I wince even thinking of the ridiculous thing I just chanted. But I don't have much time to think about it, because we need to get into our positions for the pyramids we have to do.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm on the bottom of one along with Lilly, Holly, and Savannah? Believe me, I did not make that decision. The three of us just so happen to be the tallest ones, so…yeah. It sucks, but what are we supposed to do?

So I crouch down on my hands and knees, Savannah next to me, and Katie crawls onto my back and has her hand and one leg on my back. Aubrey is next to her, Emily next to Aubrey, and on top of them are Milly and Vienna with Ginger at the very top. Isabella, being the captain of the senior squad, gets to simply stand in front and do her own cheer with the other captains.

As she does this, looking far more superior and relaxed compared to the others in my honest opinion, I feel a quiver in my left knee. My eyes widen, and I glance down at it briefly and then nervously up at Coach. Luckily, she didn't seem to see it, because she's currently frowning at a girl named Courtney on the sophomore squad. Courtney is at the top of her pyramid, and it's pretty clear that she's struggling not to fall down.

Not that I blame her. I'm starting to feel the same. My knee keeps on randomly wobbling, and I'm struggling not to let it collapse. But then, in a split second, it happens.

My knee goes down, which causes me to fall down, which causes Katie to shriek and fall down on top of me, which causes Emily to fall down on the other side, which causes Aubrey to scream that this is fun, which causes Ginger to roll her eyes at her as she also falls, but on top of Milly and V, who collapse onto Savannah, Lilly, and Holly.

The other girls have all stopped their routines and are staring at us, a few of them snickering. Isabella looks shocked, hand over her mouth, and Coach is scowling at us, particularly me.

I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed in my life.

Coach then blows her whistle. "Let's take five, girls," she commands, and the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors quickly get out of their pyramids with no problem and start chatting with each other. Ginger and Holly hurry out of the gym to go to the locker rooms for some freshening up, Aubrey starts playing ponies with herself, and Savannah, Katie, Emily, and Milly chat amongst themselves. All the other seniors, though, are looking directly at me. A few of them are frowning.

"What the heck was _that_, Adyson?" Lilly demands, tossing her blond ponytail over her shoulder. "You could have killed us."

"I'm sorry," I protest. "I just-"

"Sweets, you know better than that," Coach informs me while shaking her finger and using her nickname for me. "No quivers in the knees, or you're going down. I've told you that before."

"I know, I'm sorry. But is it really that big of a deal?"

"Excuse us for a moment, please," Vienna interjects, quickly steering me off to the side. When we're out of everyone's listening range, she begins speaking, but even then in a whisper. "Adyson, what was that? I know you hate cheerleading; so do I. But that doesn't mean you can mess up practice like that-"

"I'm worried," I interrupt, shooting a worried glance out at the team, but no one seems to be listening. "About…um…you know."

She looks confused for about half a second, but then it dawns on her. I can see it in her oval-shaped green eyes. "Ohhhh. But you're not even a month along-"

"I know." I look down at my stomach, which I'm sure looks exactly the same but to me looks bigger. "But that quiver wasn't my fault. My knee just kept on shaking for no reason, so I fell and-"

"Adyson!" Isabella rushes over, clearly not knowing that that she's interrupted our conversation. "Could I please speak to you for a moment? Perhaps in the locker room or bathroom?"

I give Vienna a momentary look, but she just nods.

"Um…sure."

"Great." We walk out of the gym, past a group of giggling freshmen girls that look so much younger than us, and directly into the bathroom located inside the locker room. Holly appears to have gone out, as has Ginger, so Isabella starts talking to me.

"You do know I'm not blaming you for that knee quiver, right?" she asks, and I have to fight myself not to smack her. What is really _that _big of a deal? It's getting annoying, and plus, it was a frickin' _accident_.

"Uh, sure?"

"Because I understand how hard it is to be on the bottom of the pyramid, as I was once, too." Her voice suddenly grows more stern. "However, you're a senior, and have been a cheerleader for three years now. You've never had trouble with any of the moves thus far, therefore I'm having trouble comprehending the reason as to why you're just now messing up."

I bite my lip and look away from her. I can't tell her. I just can't, at least not yet. "I'm sorry-"

"No, it's okay. I understand that." Her tone then goes back to normal. "Again, I just don't _get _it. Why are you just _now_ messing up?"

I shrug. "Maybe because I grew yet another two inches over the summer?" I chuckle nervously. "You know, five feet eleven inches is _pretty_ tall for a girl-"

"Lilly's five eight and Savannah's five seven, not much smaller than you. Adyson, please." Isabella now sounds concerned. "What's _really_ wrong with you?"

"Nothing," I say quickly. Too quickly, apparently, because now she's looking at me harder. Damn it. _Damn it damn it damn it. _I'm vaguely aware of the fact that I've started to sweat.

Isabella takes a deep breath. "Adyson, I'm serious. Is there something seriously wrong with you medically or anything like that? We can talk to Coach about it if you feel that you can't be on the team and give your best effort." She gives me a facial expression that could pass as a small smile. "I mean, we'll miss you, but if you feel it would be best-"

"I'm pregnant," I blurt out.

Her look of concern immediately transforms into a look of horror. Her eyes widen, and she puts her hand over her mouth. She then backs into a wall, breathing slow, steady breaths. "W-W-What-"

"It's not Django's, though," I inform her, and her eyes go even wider. Before she can say anything regarding that, I continue. "I'll explain the whole story later. But…yeah. That's why my knee was quivering insanely." My voice then lowers to a whisper. "You're only the second person to know. I've already told Vienna. Or, um, actually, _she _told _me_. I took a pregnancy test at her house."

Isabella stares at me harder, lip quivering that I can see since her hand is now down at her side instead of over her mouth. I can tell that she's struggling really hard not to cry. "Oh…my God…"

Great. Now she's getting me to tear up, too. "Isabella, it's okay. I'll quit the squad, I promise. Even if I don't like cheerleading, I don't want the team to look bad-"

"Forget the team, Adyson," Isabella cuts me off again. She grabs a ratty brown paper towel from the dispenser and blows her nose. "I just…can't believe it. You're only eighteen, and you claim that the baby isn't Django's."

"That is correct. Again, I'll…explain later." I glance towards the doorway. "And remember, you can't tell _anyone_. Not Phineas, not Ferb, _no one. _You and Vienna are the only ones that know."

She looks up at me after sniffling again, eyes wide. "What about Django?"

"I'll tell him when I'm ready," I say, my heart sinking at the mention of my boyfriend. The boyfriend Kyle tricked me into cheating on. "I'm not yet. Besides, I'm not even a month along."

She nods. "I...guess that makes sense." Her gaze travels down to my stomach. "You know you're not going to be able to hide it for much longer, though…"

"I know, and I'll tell people when I'm ready. I've said that several times now."

After hesitating for a brief moment, she nods again. "That's…understandable. I just can't believe it. That you're…in this situation."

I shrug. "Well, to put it short, I got tricked into doing it. I don't believe in abortion, so I'm stuck carrying this kid." I chuckle and look away. "For nine months."

She shakes her head. "I know…" Glancing quickly towards the door, she starts to walk towards it. "You know, we should probably get back out there."

"Makes sense," I agree, following her.

"And…just so you know, you can quit. I don't care." When I catch up to her and look at her in surprise, she shrugs. "You can't be a cheerleader under your conditions, Adyson. It's not safe for you or the baby, even if you're as early in as you are. But don't worry, I'll support you, and I'm sure everyone else will when they find out, too."

I smile at her. "Thanks, Iz," I say quietly, since we're now stepping out of the doorway into the gym. "Really. I'm going to quit after this practice."

She smiles back. "No problem," she whispers. "You'll be fine, I promise. Now let's get back to Coach. She's probably wondering where the heck we are."

I nod. "Yeah, we better. Race you!" I jog to the other side of the gym, making Isabella laugh and run after me. The other girls all look at us strangely when we walk up, but I just plain don't care. I've dealt with worse things in my life.

_**Ginger**_

Who knew hiding in a bathroom stall could be so beneficial to learn new gossip? Apparently, Adyson's pregnant. But should I actually tell people when she made it pretty clear she didn't want people to know? Hmm...

**Next Chapter Preview: Holly goes over to Aubrey's, but after something unexpected happens, a huge argument between the two unfolds, making something even MORE unexpected happen. Can anyone guess what that will happen to be?**

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**Oh. No. So Isabella knows about Adyson's pregnancy and is okay with it, but apparently, Ginger, a.k.a. the biggest gossip in the school, was hiding in a bathroom stall and heard their _entire _conversation. Gee, this sure looks good. Not.**

**And I'm sorry for any possible delays in updates or whatever, but I'm already busy with school. By the way, yes, it's going okay for me. I just can't get on a computer as much anymore thanks to homework and all that crap no one cares about.**

**But anyway, I'm excited to write the next chapter. Something truly shocking happens in it, and you all know how much I love to write shocking events. XD There are still plenty more to come in this story, trust me.**


	10. Aubrey and Holly's Night Gone Wrong

_**Sunday, October 1**_

_**The Sansone Residence/ Movie Theater**_

_**Holly**_

"So here's the thing, Aubrey," I inform my girlfriend, who is staring with a blank expression down at her science paper. Over the past hour or two, I have been attempting to tutor her in the latest unit in the class. However, since she has some type of learning disability and has to be in the 'special' section at school, it's taking her longer to understand the concept. It's required a _lot _of my patience, but I'm doing my best to not lose my temper. "When a cell multiplies, that means that it doubles up every time. Like here."

Quickly, I take out the jellybeans hidden in my pocket, and she perks up. "Jellybeans?" she says excitedly, reaching out for one, but I gently swipe her hand away.

"Yep. But we have to do something first, and then you can eat them."

Aubrey nods vigorously. She's kind of reminding me of a bobble head. "Okay."

I smile at her and take one jellybean out of the pile, setting it in front of her. "Good. So do you remember when we learned how to multiply back in the second grade?"

She considers it for a brief second before nodding slowly.

"So how do you multiply something by two?" I ask her. "Or um, I should say, how do you multiply two times one?"

It takes her a minute of thinking, and I can tell by her face that she's struggling to think of the right answer. But right as my mouth opens to explain it further, her face lights up. "Isn't it the same number when you multiply something by one?"

I grin. "Yes."

"So…" she hesitates and glances down at the sheet of notebook paper. On it is _2x1=? _"The answer is…two?"

I nod, grin turning even wider. "That's right." I move another jellybean next to the one already in front of her. "So think of these jellybeans as cells. They've multiplied once, so now there's two instead of one."

Her eyes widen. "That's so cool," she whispers, and I laugh.

"Yes," I agree. "Yes, it is."

She examines the jellybeans, eyes moving from one pile to the other. "So now they have to do it again?" she wonders.

"Mmm-hmm."

Aubrey bites her lip, playing with her long, dark hair. "So do I add one like I did last time?"

"No," I tell her, shaking my head. "Remember? When you multiply something…" That's when I hesitate. I'm starting to think that she thinks multiplying and adding are the same thing when they obviously aren't. So I decide to take a different approach. Sliding two more jellybeans from the other pile on the table, I put them right next to the already existing pile of two and begin to speak to Aubrey in a way that I think she'll understand well. "Think of it this way. Each jellybean wants a friend to bring with them. So when they both have one, now there's four jellybeans."

She stares intently at the candy, blinking in surprise. "Ohhh. That makes sense. So do I just give them each a friend from over here?" The brunette gestures to the bigger pile, and I nod.

"Exactly. Because everybody needs a friend. But make sure to add them after giving everyone a friend."

"Okay." She begins to add one jellybean to each one by her. "One…two…four…"

"Three after two."

"Oh, right." Aubrey bites her lip and starts over. "One…two…three…four." She looks up at me, a somewhat nervous expression on her face. "Is that right?"

"It is," I assure her. "Now count all of the friends together. You can do it."

Aubrey glances up at the clock, and her eyes widen slightly, but then they immediately drift back down to the candy. "Um…okay. One…two…four, no, three…four…um, five or six next?"

"Five." I hold up my five fingers.

"Um, okay. Five…six…" She chews her lip even harder, eyes looking up at the ceiling. "Is it seven?"

"Yes," I say excitedly. I've never seen her count this far. Seriously.

"And then…um…eight?"

I nod happily, and she looks down at the table, disbelief written all over her face. "I did it," she says slowly, smile starting to grow on her face. "I did it!"

"You did it!" I cheer, and she squeals and jumps out of her chair, making me laugh even harder.

"Now I'm even better than Fuzz McGuzz at science!" she yells, looking down at her chubby brown cat and pointing at him. "Take _that!_"

I chuckle. "Well, we're not quite done, although you _have _gotten really far," I remind her, and she stops jumping, instead looking at me in surprise. "Multiplying still goes a lot farther in the cell world."

For some reason, she once again glances nervously at the clock. Why, I don't know, because she can't tell time, not even on a digital clock like the one on the stove. "Something wrong, Aubrey?"

She immediately stops looking at the clock and instead sits right back down in her chair. "Um…no." Twirling her hair around her finger, she avoids looking at me. "Um…so how do I multiply this, then-"

"Aubrey." My saying her name makes her finally glimpse at me. I begin to frown and cross my arms. "What are you hiding?"

Her eyes widen once again. "Nothing," she insists, squirming a bit on her chair. "Come on. I wanna keep doing science-"

"What is it that you're hiding? Did…Charity ask you to be at one of her many balls or tea parties and you're running late?" I'm referring to her white, fluffy cat.

"I'm not hiding anything, Holly," she says firmly, returning her attention to the jellybeans that are on the glass table we're sitting at here in the kitchen. Also here in the kitchen are two empty bowls previously filled with penne and shrimp made by Aubrey's mom.

Normally, she and Aubrey's aunt would have been here, also helping Aubrey with her schoolwork, but both of them own the movie theater downstairs. Tonight's the premiere of a really anticipated movie, so they're downstairs right now getting people settled and all that. Occasionally Aubrey and I work behind the snack counter. She's actually pretty good at giving people their popcorn and whatever else they want. Which makes sense, really, since she's lived here for seven years or so.

Anyway, so I look at her hard. "You promise?"

Is it just me, or does she look afraid that something bad is going to happen? "Um…"

All of a sudden, a knock is heard at the door, and Aubrey jumps. She mutters something inaudible under her breath before jumping up and grabbing me.

"Hey! What are you-"

"Shhh," she whispers, putting her finger to her lips and glancing once again at the doorway. I struggle to get out, but she has a really strong grip on me.

"Aubrey," I hiss, glaring at her. "What the hell is going _on_?"

"Nothing." She tries pulling me as another knock at the door is heard. "Coming!"

"No, you are _not _coming," I tell her. Finally, I wrestle free, and she glances at me fearfully as I walk towards the door, hands clenched at the sides. Whatever my girlfriend's hiding, it's not going to be pretty, I can tell.

"Holly, _please-_" She pleads, but I cut her off.

"Uh uh. Unless _you _tell me yourself who's out there." I give her a glare, and she recoils. Good.

"Holly, really, you'd be mad at me-"

"I already am," I interject, and her face contorts in pain as I continue. "Did you schedule something with someone else that you were supposed to do while we were doing homework? Well, fine, then when I open this door, I'm going to look like an idiot. But the reason I'm mad isn't because of you. It's because you're not telling me who's out there. That scares me."

Aubrey wrings her hands together, looking away as the mysterious person knocks for the third time. Okay, we need to open this door sooner or later. If this person's a friend of ours, I'm going to feel bad.

"So can I open this door?"

Putting a hand to her mouth, still looking down, she nods. Why is she blinking repeatedly and struggling not to cry? I'm really not liking the looks of this. "Fine," she whispers. "It's a secret I've been keeping from you for a few weeks. I've only told the kitties."

By 'the kitties', she means Fuzz McGuzz, Charity, and Chevrolet, her cats.

My throat tightens. Now I'm really getting worried. "You know what?" I tell her, stepping away and walking towards the bathroom in the nearby hallway. "I'll hide in here. You answer the door, and I'll hear through the door who it is."

"But-"

"_Do it,_" I insist. "_Now." _I immediately step into the bathroom and lock the door before she can change her mind. I hear her gulp, and then slowly walk over and finally open the door for the person behind it. I then listen to loud shoes step onto the tile, and I press my ear against the door to listen.

"Hey, Aubrey," the person greets her. It's a deep, slightly squeaky voice, so I automatically know already that it's a teenage guy. Good to know, since it's probably one of our friends, then. I then hear him set something down on the table, sending a few of the jellybeans flying through the air. I grimace and close my eyes.

"Hi…" I just barely hear her mutter.

"So what took you so long to answer the door?" the guy wonders. I hear him starting to screech back a chair, but Aubrey must have stopped him, because it only comes back a few inches.

"Um…Chevrolet needed me to take her to her litter box," Aubrey lies, and my brows furrow. Why didn't she just say the truth?

The guy hesitates for a minute before replying. "Um…okay. Listen, Aubrey. I just have to tell you something. I'm not liking where our relationship is at the moment."

I gape at nothing in particular. What does this guy mean, 'our relationship'?

"Because here's the thing. We're going behind Holly's back for the second time."

My stomach clenches, and I sink to the floor, hand covering my mouth. _Irving's _here? ! And also dating Aubrey behind my back? _Again?_

"I honestly feel bad," Irving sighs. He shuffles his feet on the floor. "I just don't think we should do this to her. Besides, I have to get back to recording everything Phineas and Ferb do." His voice becomes more upbeat at the mention of his idols. "Did you know that they've done almost a total of one thousand inventions now?"

"That's great, Irving." Aubrey's voice is stiff.

"So…um…where's our relationship right now?"

"Right here."

I roll my eyes and sigh in irritation. Of course _she _would misinterpret that question.

Irving sounds every bit as annoyed. "No, Aubrey. I mean…should we still be together? I just don't-"

"Um, sorry Irving, but I can't talk right now," Aubrey interrupts. She must be leading him out of the place, because I hear some squeaky shoes on the floor. "I have…homework to do."

Sort of lying. Sort of not.

"Well, okay." Irving sounds surprised. "But are we still together or-"

"Sure, okay? Just please leave." Her voice sounds more forceful than it normally does, and it surprises me a little.

"Okay," Irving says to her. "So…see you tomorrow after school?"

"No problem."

After the both of them say goodbye and Irving shuts the door, I throw the door open and stomp over to my girlfriend, whose eyes are wide. "Holly, I can explain-" she hurriedly tries to explain, but I cut her off.

"Are you effing kidding me?" I scream, and she slides down into her chair, face turning pale like milk with just a little bit of chocolate in it. "You're dating me _and _Irving again? How long has it been? !"

She shrinks back even further. "A few weeks," she whispers.

I shake my head at her, feeling more and more angry, not to mention upset, every second. Blinking back tears, I glare at her. "I trusted you, Aubrey," I inform her. "I trusted you to not go back to that bastard. But what do you do? You do. While you're also in a relationship with me. And not just for the first time. This is the _second._"

Now a few tears are sliding down her cheeks. "Holly, please-"

"No." I shake my head even faster as I grab the bag on a chair. The lump in my throat continues to grow, but I do my best to ignore it. "I don't want to continue to date a cheater. We're over."

The look on her face is so painful I can't even stand to look at it. "Over?" she whispers, and I finally turn away.

"Over, Aubrey. Forever."

"F-F-Forever?" she stutters, and I finally snap.

"_Yes!" _I yell, walking even closer to the door. The dam inside of me finally breaks, and I continue to scream at my now ex-girlfriend. "I'm tired of dating someone that continues to cheat on me with some _idiot _that doesn't even love you the way I did. Plus, I'm tired of dating someone that has _no _brain."

I regret those last words the minute they leave my mouth, but there's nothing I can do about it, because now I've broken up with my girlfriend of over a year and a half so she can date Irving, also known as the guy who hurt both me and Lilly last year. Lilly didn't appear to be hurt, but she was. Believe me.

Anyway, so when I leave the apartment and shut the door behind me, Aubrey sobbing hysterically, I immediately flip my cell phone over and dial Lilly's number. I'm not crying anymore, but I'm pretty damn close to doing so.

Luckily, Lilly picks up on the very first ring. "Hi Holly, what's happen-" She stops when she hears me sniffling. "Oh my God. Holly, what happened?"

I lean against the doorway and slide down, finally allowing myself to sob insanely. "I-I-It's Aubrey," I cry. "S-S-She was cheating on me again. With Irving."

Lilly gasps. "You're kidding."

"N-No. I…broke up with her." I try to control my crying, considering the fact that right below me is a bunch of people waiting in line for a movie. "We were doing h-h-homework, and then Irving came by, and they admitted they were t-t-t-together, and I b-b-broke up with her." I gulp, trying to get rid of that stupid lump in my throat, but it doesn't work.

Lilly doesn't respond for a few seconds, and I wonder if we lost connection before she finally replies. "That's…awful. I'm so sorry. Irving's such an ass."

"No kidding," I sniffle.

"Seriously, he is. What is his _problem_?"

"I don't know."

"But hey, just so you know, I'm here for you. All you have to do is avoid Aubrey and Irving. I already do so with the latter, and let me tell you, it's easy. As long as they're together and I'm by you, we'll be unstoppable."

Even in my state, I can't help but chuckle. "Thanks, Lills. I don't care what people say; you're a good friend."

She laughs. "Well, thank you. Hey, you're at Aubrey's, right?"

"…Yeah. Why?"

"I'm down here waiting in line to see that romance comedy thing everyone's been talking about. Isabella was supposed to come, but she cancelled at the last minute. You want to join me?"

I scan the line for her, and sure enough, I spot her. It'd be pretty hard not to with that bright blond hair of hers. "You sure it's okay?" I wonder, wiping my nose on my sleeve since I lack of any tissues on me.

"Yeah, sure. I have the ticket. Maybe this'll cheer you up."

I take a shuddery breath and smile for the first time since the breakup. "I think it will." I get up and start making my way down the long staircase, careful not to slip and fall. It's happened before. "Should I just like, join you in line?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't you?" I can see her talking while she says this, and it's actually kind of funny.

"Just wondering. Hey, I see you now. I'm turning the phone off."

"Kay. See you in a few seconds." She flips her phone off right as I come up right behind her, about to have fun. Hopefully, I'll forget about what happened so quickly, going from a homework night to a night where my girlfriend and I broke up.

But even if I _do _have fun with my best friend, I know I'm not going to forget what happened before.

**Next Chapter Preview: Ginger finally tells someone Adyson's secret. Yep, she's waited this long. Surprising, huh? But what if two other untrustworthy people just so happen to hear?**

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**Bet you guys weren't expecting _this _to happen, huh? It was just a fun, innocent homework night that totally flipped. Poor Holly…I feel really bad for her right now, this now happening to her _twice_. And I apologize if this chapter felt rushed…I literally typed this in a day, which does not happen often. And there's also one coming up really soon that I want to start writing, too. That one won't be _nearly_ as shocking as Adyson's pregnancy, but it'll still be pretty shocking.**

**So…yeah. I'm done talking now.**


	11. Ginger Tells THREE People?

_**Monday, October 2**_

_**The Rai Residence**_

_**Baljeet**_

Oh, studying. It is the opposite of bane, in my dictionary. I do not understand why so many students of the Danville High population find it to be a nuisance. I find it relaxing and wonderful, sitting on my bed looking inside of an AP Chemistry book or an AP Calculus book or whatever advanced placement book I just so happen to be reading. Sometimes I do not even _need _to study. I just do it for my enjoyment.

The latter is what is happening at the moment. I completed all of my homework for this school year during the summer, yes, even during the times I was over at Phineas and Ferb's, so I do not need to worry about that and instead will look over my notes for college. Yale happened to accept me extremely early, if you must know.

Sighing happily, I look over my notes on Leibniz's notation for Calculus I took this summer. Granted, I have known what it is since sixth grade, but it cannot hurt to take notes over things, right? At least that is what _I _think. Ginger, for instance, does not seem to care to restudy things after she is tested on them. She is a good student, yes, but she does not challenge herself enough, in my opinion.

Speaking of Ginger, I look down at the cellular phone next to me and frown. I sent her a voicemail a few minutes ago, right before I had decided to take out my textbooks and read them, but she has still not responded. Normally, she would have done so in a flash, but she has not this time. How odd.

I then decide that I should ask her what is wrong. I despise texting, mainly because unlike her, I do not like to use the texting language. So I look through my contact list, find her name, tap it, and bring it to my ear as I flip a page in my textbook.

For a few seconds, she does not answer, and I worry that she will not ever before she finally picks up. "Hello?" I hear her high voice say quickly. I sigh of relief.

"Hello, Ginger. It is Baljeet, and I-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she hurriedly interrupts. "I haven't answered your voicemail about coming over to study, and I'm sorry. But there's a good reason for that."

I turn another page after wincing at her use of contractions. She will not listen to me when I ask her to not do so, which is quite irritating. "What is it, then?" I wonder.

I listen to her gulp over the line. She sounds nervous when she speaks next. "Listen, Baljeet, I've…been keeping a secret for a while."

My eyebrows shoot up, and I almost laugh. "You have kept a _secret_?"

I can practically feel her rolling her eyes on the other line. "Yes, I have." She takes a deep breath. "But Baljeet, this one…is _huge_. I don't know how the hell I've kept it this long. Like seriously, it's insane."

I bite my lip at her language, but say nothing as I only know that it will make her mad. And when she is mad, nothing goes well. "Um…okay…what do you want to do-"

"Tell you," she says impulsively, and my eyes widen.

"Um…Ginger…" I let out a nervous chuckle. "You informed me that this is quite a big secret you have. Are you sure you want to-"

"_Yes_," she almost screams into my ear, and I wince.

"All right, all right. Just come on over to my house, then-"

Literally a split second later, the door to my bedroom opens, and Ginger bursts in, cellular phone in hand. Her long hair is up everywhere in the air, and I stare at it in horror. She glances up at her hair, reddens, and attempts to smooth it down as I continue to speak.

"Um…how did you get here so fast?"

She looks away as she tries to keep her hair down, but fails at doing so. "I was outside of your bedroom door the whole time." When my mouth falls open, she quickly carries on. "Sorry…but your mom let me in."

It figures that she would do that when I was trying to study.

"And, um…I figured you would let me tell you. But-"

"Well then, would you please _inform _me as to what the secret is?" I ask her, glancing longingly at my textbook. "Not that I do not like to hang out with you, it is just-"

"I know, I know." She sighs. "But really, Baljeet, I'm afraid of telling this one. It's bad. _So _bad."

Realizing that I probably will not get any reading done anytime soon, I heave a sigh and push my books aside, sitting up and looking at her. "All right. But whatever it is, be sure not to tell _anyone _else-"

"Adyson's pregnant."

I process this information, but it doesn't really hit me until a few seconds later, in which my eyes widen and I stare at her in horror. "What-"

"I told you it was crazy." Ginger bites her lip and avoids my gaze. "I heard Adyson telling Isabella in the bathroom when I was in a stall."

"You were in a-"

"It's the best place to get gossip!" she protests, and I roll my eyes in irritation.

"Fine. Carry on, please."

"_Anyway, _so I heard Adyson telling her she was pregnant. Apparently, Vienna knows, too. But there's something even bigger involved." She leans closer to me, and I can't help but cock my head slightly to listen to what she has to say. Her mouth curls into a funny position before she takes another deep breath. "It's not Django's."

Instantly, I cover my mouth. Is she serious?

"I'm dead serious," she deadpans, as if she just read my mind. "She didn't provide many details, just that she would tell Isabella later. Oh, and that could she please not tell anyone until she, Adyson, felt she was ready for people to know."

"Wow…" I whisper, still feeling lightheaded with all of this information. "That is…a _very _big secret, Ginger. I cannot believe you have kept it this long."

She looks somewhat pleased. "Well, I didn't know whether or not it was the right thing to tell someone. But, I figured, 'Hey, my boyfriend's trustworthy. If I should tell anyone, it should be him.'" My girlfriend shrugs. "So yeah. Nothing much more to say than that."

"Well, better you have told me rather than anyone else," I admit, rubbing the back of my neck. "Good thing you have not told Lilly, or someone like that. Irving, even."

She nods. "Yeah. That's a really good thing. Irving would have had it up on his blog by now."

_**Irving's place of residence**_

* * *

_**Random Narrator: Doesn't he have a last name?**_

**Hey, where did _you_ come from?**

_**RN: …I don't know.**_

***groans* Well, can you get _out_ of here? Irving has to narrate.**

_**RN: Can you answer my question before I do that?**_

**No, because I haven't thought of a last name for Irving, and get out! This story needs to be told because people have been waiting forever for this next chapter. And _hopefully, _they're okay with this chapter even though it's so freaking short.**

_**RN: Fine, jeez. You seem to be in a bad mood.**_

**Thank you. I am, thanks to you. As the story was saying…**

* * *

_**Irving's place of residence**_

_**Irving**_

"That's not true," I complain when I hear Ginger say that through the camera I attached in Baljeet's room that he doesn't know about and never will. "Normally, I would, because Adyson bugs me, but that would just be cruel."

Aubrey peers over my shoulder, tossing her long, brunette hair over her shoulder that for once isn't tied back in her usual ponytail. "What does cruel mean?" she wonders.

"Very mean," I inform her, and she nods, eyes still on the screen.

"Okay."

"I just can't believe it," I moan, putting both hands onto the top of my head as we continue to listen to and watch Baljeet and Ginger talk about what the latter heard while in the bathroom stall. "Adyson's pregnant."

My girlfriend looks at me in confusion, finally taking her emerald green eyes off the screen. "What does that even mean?"

"She's um…having a baby." Hearing the words come out of my mouth make the situation feel even more intense, if at all possible. But Aubrey only looks more confused.

"But what about the stork?" she questions. Now it's _my _turn to stare at _her _in confusion.

"Um…what?"

"The stork," she says, blinking at me. "Adyson built the nest, right?"

She cannot be serious. "Um…Aubrey, the stork-"

"Will bring her baby," Aubrey interrupts me. "I know. All she has to do is build a nest outside her window, and then, when the time comes, it will bring her baby." She smiles at me. "I'm not stupid. I _know _how babies are made."

I slink down further in my chair and bury my face in my hands, shaking my head at the same time. How can she possibly be so innocent? But I decide to say nothing about it and instead go, "Um…right."

Aubrey nods repeatedly. "Uh huh. So how long will it be?"

Hmm. How to say it to her… "A very long time," I conclude, adjusting my glasses. "When it's summer."

She thinks about this for a brief second. "When it's bright, sunny, and super hot out? Remember, I don't know how to read a calendar." The girl glances down at herself. "I wore a winter coat today because I thought it was winter."

"Yes. Yes, when it is bright, sunny, and super hot out." I say nothing regarding the winter coat bit.

"Hmm. Okay. But who else knows? Just us?"

"No, no, we just saw Baljeet and Ginger saying that stuff, remember?" I remind her. "And I already told you that Isabella and Vienna know, too. And obviously Adyson."

"Oh, okay." She studies my face. "Are we supposed to tell anyone?"

My eyes widen as panic rushes inside of me. "N-No, Aubrey," I stutter, feeling sweat rush to the palms of my hands. "We're not."

"Why?" she asks. Confusion is once again painted on her face as she once again looks at the screen. Baljeet and Ginger are now sitting on the bed, both on their stomachs, and their backs are facing the camera. "Shouldn't everyone know?"

I shake my head repeatedly, now wondering what I was thinking inviting her over to watch everyone in their bedrooms. It was a _really _bad idea. "No, Aubs, they shouldn't. It's private. No one is supposed to know, including us."

"Not even Fuzz McGuzz?"

I smile slightly at the mention of one of her three cats. She treats them all as if they're human. "Yes, not even Fuzz McGuzz."

Aubrey blinks in surprise. "Oh. Wow. That _is _big." She nods. "I won't tell anyone."

"You promise?" I challenge her, and then instantly regret it. She probably doesn't even know what 'promise' means. But she surprises me by nodding.

"Yes, Irving. I promise."

I raise my eyebrows. Maybe, deep down inside of her, she actually has a little bit of intelligence. Not that I doubt she does, but…oh, you know what I mean. Hopefully. "Okay, then."

Aubrey beams. "So now what should we do?" she asks. "Do you wanna look into someone else's bedroom?"

I shrug. "Sure." I move the cursor onto the screen, click out of Baljeet's room, and select Phineas and Ferb's. Instantly, a smile lights up on my face. The two are sitting by each other on Phineas' bed looking at a sketchbook. Phineas is chattering away, as usual, while Ferb is sitting by him and nodding, also the usual.

I sigh and lean back, feeling content. At least some things in life are still normal, even when many others clearly aren't.

* * *

_**Aubrey**_

What does 'promise' even mean? I try to listen to what Phineas and Ferb are saying on the screen to make Irving happy, but I can't stop thinking about that word. Hmm. Maybe I'll ask one of my kitties later. Or I could say something about the stork bringing Adyson a baby to one of our friends.

I think I'll just ask the kitties if they know what that word means. And then later, I'll say something about the stork and Adyson! It works out great, right? That way, both things get done at the same time! Yay me!

**Next Chapter Preview: …Something happens to Lilly. I'll say no more.**

* * *

***sigh* Oh Aubrey, you are so clueless. So freaking clueless. But that's why we all like you. Hopefully. I mean, I don't know if people like you or not, but I assume a majority do from what they say about you.**

**Anyway…I am really sorry this chapter took longer than usual, especially considering the fact that it isn't even a long one. But I swear, my high school teachers give a _lot _of homework. It's insane. So I haven't been able to get on here much. **

**By the way, I need to find out where that random narrator came from. Guess I'll go try to find him later and tell him to not haphazardly appear in the middle of a chapter like he did this time. That was really weird…**


	12. Whatever Happens to Lilly

_**Friday, October 6**_

_**The Walker Residence**_

_**Lilly**_

"So did you hear about Adyson?" I ask Holly as I walk into her bedroom with a bowl of popcorn. She had asked me to go down to her kitchen and make some for us since she claimed to be too lazy. Ever since she found out Aubrey cheated on her yet again with Irving, Holly hasn't really been her usual energetic self.

My best friend glances up at me from her cell phone, making her poofy hair move up along with her head. "What about her?" she wonders, sitting up and grabbing a handful of the snack from the bowl I'm holding.

Rolling my eyes, I set the plastic bowl down next to her. "Apparently, she quit cheerleading," I inform her, taking a seat next to her on her navy blue bedspread.

Holly's eyes widen as she munches the popcorn. "She quit?" she echoes, covering her mouth with her hand so I can't see her chewing.

"I believe I just said that, Annie Sullivan," I tell her sarcastically. I show her the palm of my hand and pretend to inscribe something into it with my other hand. "Want me to sign it into your palm?"

Now it's her turn to roll her eyes. "No, thanks. I'm just surprised, that's all." She finishes her last handful and takes hold of another one, only this time, she only eats one piece at a time. "I know Adyson hated cheerleading, but going so far as to quit? Now that's _two_ of our friends off the squad."

"Adyson and Gretchen are _not _my friends," I bluntly say, tossing my blond hair over my shoulder as I pick up a piece of popcorn off of the floor. "I happen to be filled with disgust for both of them."

Holly chuckles. "Whatever you say, Lills."

"It's true," I insist, aiming the popcorn towards my mouth when I throw it. It fails and lands behind one of Holly's many pillows.

She shrugs. "All right. Whatever." She sits up a little straighter. "So are you planning on going to Phineas and Ferb's tomorrow? They didn't build anything last weekend, if I recall correctly."

"That's because they were at their sister's for a majority of the weekend," I remind her. "She didn't let them build anything because their mom wasn't around and she didn't want them to build anything without her trying to bust them."

Holly laughs. Her laugh kind of sounds like she's hiccupping, only it's much faster. Whereas mine is what one would possibly call loud and annoying. People say it's funny and that they wish they had it, but really, they don't. "Oh, Candace," she chuckles. "Married with a kid, and she _still _tries to bust her brothers. It's hilarious."

I let a small smile escape my lips. "I know. But going back to the main subject, yes, I'll be there tomorrow morning. Why wouldn't I be?"

Her smile suddenly disappears, and she looks away. "Because…I'm not," she slowly tells me, and I give her a look of disbelief.

"Why not?" I wonder. Everyone's always there every weekend unless they're going on vacation or they're sick or something, and I know for a fact that Holly will be in neither situation.

My best friend sighs. "I don't want to face Aubrey or Irving," she admits. "It would kill me to see the person I'm in love with next to someone else, giggling at his jokes when they're not even funny and helping him set up more cameras everywhere even though she won't know how to."

I frown. "But Holl, if you do that, then that'll show them that you're upset. You can't do that. You just can't." I look at her harder, and she squirms uncomfortably on her bedspread as I continue. "When Irving and I broke up, I felt so miserable that I didn't want to get out of bed. I just wanted to stay in my pajamas and not put makeup or anything on."

Her eyes widen. "Not put makeup on?" She shakes her head in wonder. "I don't think I've seen you without it since we were twelve."

"I wasn't finished, and that's not the point" I snap, adjusting my hunter green skirt absentmindedly. "What I meant to say after that was that even though I was in such a funk, I got out of bed, did my usual morning routine, and went to my friends' place. And guess what happened?" I throw my hands up into the air. "Nothing! Everything was great! I ignored him, he ignored me, and we eventually got over us."

During my little speech, Holly has been resting her chin in the palms of her hands, looking overwhelmed. "But I'm not _like _you, Lilly," she says adamantly, shaking her head. "I can't get over things the way you can. Aubrey and I were together for a year and a half, other than that little spilt we had back in May." She looks at me sadly. "Our relationship wasn't like yours and Irving's. The both of you made _no _sense. No offense."

"None taken," I tell her honestly, picking up another piece of popcorn from the bowl.

"But we were _real_," she finishes, blinking repeatedly. "I get that high school couples don't last, and if they do, it's like one in a million. But there was something true with her, something I've never felt with anyone before. It was just like we had this _connection_, or something. And now she's gone, gone with some stupid boy."

Great. Now she's making _me_ blink back tears.

"Who am I going to find that's like her? She loved me, I _know _she did." Holly sniffles and wipes her nose on her arm, and I have to struggle not to grimace. "Sure, she's really ditzy, and not that intelligent, but I don't care. It's not easy to find love in this messed up world, especially not when you're a lesbian."

I have nothing to say to that. I stare at her, now feeling downhearted.

"So that's why I'm not going to Phineas and Ferb's," she concludes, eyes downcast. "Because I don't want to see the person I'm in love with with someone else. It'll just make me feel even more hurt than I already am. Happy?"

Damn it. Now I feel horrible. "Holly, I'm sorry-" I begin, but she holds up a hand.

"Uh-uh. I don't want sympathy." She finally looks up. "I should have seen it coming from a mile away."

I blink at her. "What-"

"It's just that Aubrey was acting weird a lot," she explains. "I should have paid more attention to the way she was doing things. Suddenly, she wasn't talking about her cats, or unicorns, or anything like that in front of me. I just assumed that maybe she was finally getting some intelligence inside of her."

I raise an eyebrow at her, and she shrugs. "Okay…maybe not. But at the very least, I should have noticed that something was wrong with her. Maybe then I would have figured it out myself and not felt so horrible."

I awkwardly rub her back in an attempt to cheer her up. "Well, what I'm saying is that you shouldn't let yourself be down over you and Aubrey breaking up. I know it seems hard to believe, but trust me, it'll get better." I smile at her. "I know it."

Holly looks up at me, and for the first time today, she smiles back at me. "Thanks, Lilly," she informs me, reaching over and hugging me. "Really. I have a hard time understanding why other people don't like you. You're not that bad."

When she releases me, I raise my eyebrows at her. "I'm not _that _bad?" I repeat. "So I'm _kind of_ bad?"

Her eyes widen. "N-No," she stutters. "Lilly, you _know _that's not what I meant-"

"Relax," I interrupt her, chuckling. "Of course I know that. Besides, you've been my best friend since fifth grade. I know you well."

Holly is about to respond when her mom pokes her head in and sees us sitting next to each other on the bed, bowl of popcorn halfway full. "Oh, there you girls are," she remarks. "Holly, your father thought you guys were going to be in the living room with him all day."

Her daughter rolls her eyes. "He wanted us to watch football with him," she groans, stretching her legs out. "Steelers play the Ravens today."

Mrs. Walker winces. "Oh dear. He definitely won't want to come to dinner if the Steelers lose." She shakes her head. "Anyway, I didn't come up here to bug you two. Lilly, your uncle and brother are here to pick you up."

"Aw," Holly complains.

"It's fine," I tell her, standing up and fixing my hair. "I have plans, anyway."

My best friend looks at me in confusion. "Plans?" she echoes.

"Oh, yeah. See, I just got these new hair extensions in the mail, and I need to test them out." I shrug. "And if they don't work out, I'll mail them back and buy better ones."

Mrs. Walker blinks at me. "Sweetheart, I don't think hair extensions are necessary for you-" she tries to explain, but I cut her off.

"Oh, but they are. They'll add volume and body to my luxurious hair, as well as some extra length-"

"We get it," Holly groans, rolling her eyes at me. "You quote need end quote hair extensions for a bunch of different reasons."

"Yep," I say cheerfully. I turn towards Mrs. Walker. "So, where's my uncle parked?"

* * *

_**Five minutes later in the Stephens/Carlson Car**_

"You buckled?" Uncle Don asks my nine year old brother Grant, who is playing with his old handheld video game console. Once upon a time, it was mine, back when I actually cared about sitting down and staring at video game screens all day.

Grant glances up briefly and nods before returning his gaze downwards.

"And you?" he inquires, and I roll my eyes.

"Uncle Don, I'm not stupid," I inform him as I check my makeup in the overhead mirror. My eyeliner looks a little funny, so I grab it out of my bag and fix it. "I've been buckling my seat belt for almost eighteen years now."

"No need to be a sass with me," he warns me as I put the eyeliner away. After starting the car and turning the key in the ignition, he begins to back out of the Walkers' driveway. "So how was Holly's?"

"Fine," I state, now frowning at my reflection. The blue contacts I put in are feeling a little funny, and it shows. "We talked, had popcorn, the usual chiz."

Behind me, Grant groans. "Come on, Zelda," he says angrily, kicking the seat once. "It's not _that _hard to get through the passageway."

I choose to ignore him, seeing as I have no clue who this Zelda person is, nor do I care. "So yeah, it was good. But I need to get home and try out those hair extensions Grandma go me. You know, those-"

"Long blond ones that will add body, volume, and extra length to your already luxurious hair," both Grant and Don say in a deadpan tone, and I blink in surprise.

"What, have I already mentioned it before?"

"Try five thousand times," Grant grumbles under his breath when he thinks I can't hear him.

Don wipes some sweat off of his forehead with his bare hand. "Well, that's not going to happen for a little while," he informs me. "I have to go to the bank, and then the both of you have dentist appointments."

I clench my teeth. I hate the dentist. I'm not afraid of him or anything, but the whole procedure is just so uncomfortable.

"And both of those things combined won't take more than an hour," my uncle continues as he carries on with looking straight through the front at the upcoming traffic. He turns right onto the highway. "So you have no right to complain whatsoever. You'll have plenty of time today to try out those hair extenders."

"Hair _extensions_," I correct him, slumping down into my seat.

Don rolls his eyes at me before looking back into the intersection. His brows furrow, and I look up to see a red Jeep continuously changing lanes without turning on their turn signals. "Another stupid idiot on the freeway," he moans. "That's wonderful."

From the rearview mirror, I see Grant look up. His eyes widen. "Whoa," he whispers. "That car's really close."

Finally, I look up myself, and my mouth falls open at the way it keeps turning in various directions. "Oh my God," I say out loud. "That doesn't look good."

"You think I don't know that?" Uncle Don says, sounding irritated at me. Gosh, he must not have had a good workday today at the school. He's a music teacher there, and he for some reason likes going into the building_ after_ coming home. "As long as I stay a considerable distance away from him, everything should be…"

All of a sudden, the car whirls around, heading straight for us. Don trails off his sentence at I shriek.

"MOVE THE CAR!" I scream, reaching over and trying to grab the wheel, but Don swipes it away.

"Lilly, I can drive," he snaps, now sounding downright pissed at me. But is that a thread of fear in his tone? "I'll move it over-"

"It's almost here!" Grant cries. "Move the car to the left!"

"I'm _trying-"_

"Clearly not _enough!_" I scream, clutching my seatbelt. "Move the damn car!"

As soon as I say that, he immediately steers the car over to the left like my little brother told him. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to help, since the car is now even closer to us.

"Try to pass it!" I pant, my heart feeling like it's going to jump out of my chest. Quickly, I unbuckle my seatbelt, making Uncle Don and Grant's eyes widen.

"Lillian Samantha, what the hell do you think you're doing?" the former demands, but I don't answer him as I lean over and grab the steering wheel, moving over to the right as the crazy car moves to the left.

"I'm moving it since _you're _not!" I yell. Grant whimpers in the backseat, but I pretend not to hear him and instead glare at my uncle. "We could be _killed _here, and you're not doing anything!"

"That's not true-Lilly, move back in your seat!" he hollers, sounding absolutely terrified now.

"Why should I-"

But I don't get to finish my sentence, because the car turns our direction, and without any warning, crashes straight into us.

**Next Chapter Preview: Basically, we find out what happened, but not exactly right away.**

* * *

***creepy giggle* Oh man. I'm sure you guys want to _kill _me now. Seriously, if _that's _not a cliffhanger, I don't know _what_ is.**


	13. Result of What Happened

_**Still Friday, but about an hour later**_

_**Adyson**_

Okay, I can't take it anymore. I _have _to tell him. And by him, I mean Django.

I'm still not even a month along, but sooner or later, it's going to be pretty obvious as to what I'm going through, and I have a feeling it's going to be sooner. Over the past couple of days, I've thought about it, and I honestly think it would be better if he heard it from me rather than anybody else. Not that I don't trust Isabella and Vienna, but…you never know.

I really don't want to have to do this by phone call, but I know that I can't possibly wait any longer. It's Friday, after all, and Django and I don't have plans with the other one other than us both being at Phineas and Ferb's this weekend.

With a sigh, I take out my iPhone and stare at it for a few seconds, and then down at the bedspread I'm sitting on. One of Noah's old pieces of cheese had made its way onto my old red and orange one somehow, so I had to buy another one since I couldn't bear sleeping on it ever again due to that little incident. So now I have a red and yellow one, and it's the one I'm gazing down at.

I then remember the reason I looked down in the first place, and I immediately turn back to the iPhone. Taking a deep breath, I turn it on, type in the passcode, discover I typed in the wrong passcode, groan, and then finally type in the right one. I then tap Django's name in my contact list and bring it to my ear, trying to calm my nerves down.

First off, what the hell am I going to say? 'Oh, Django, guess what? I got serious with another guy-' No, that would sound wrong from the start. Um… 'Um, hi, Django. Listen, this is hard to say, but I'm pregnant.' No, then he would think I cheated with him because I wanted to. Or-

"Adyson," Django answers, and I start, almost dropping my phone, and snap out of my thoughts.

"Oh, um, hey," I reply, suddenly freaked out. I grab the bottom of my red hoodie out of instinct. It's what I do sometimes when I'm nervous. "Listen, I have something to tell you-"

"Adyson," Django repeats. Wait. Is that _fear _in his voice? I hear him swallow over the line and then take a shuddery breath. "I'm sorry, I really want you to tell me what it is you want to tell me, but I'm…kind of in a serious situation right now."

My eyes widen, and I lean forward from sitting back against my pillows, clutching the cell phone. "Really?" I ask, trying not to display the panic that I'm feeling into my tone. "What happened?"

"It's Lilly," he replies, and I bite my lip. Lilly is Django's cousin on his dad's side, and ever since she permanently joined the Fireside Girls when we were like ten or eleven, we've had problems with each other. They especially escalated in middle school, but _that's _another story. Anyway, Django then continues. "She's…been in a car accident."

I blink. A car accident? I don't really know how to respond, so I just slowly say, "Um…wow. Is she all right?"

"I don't know," he replies. I can picture him biting his lip the way he always does when things don't go the right way for him. "My parents and I are about to head to the hospital. All the doctor told my dad was that my uncle, little cousin, and Lilly were in a car accident and that could we please go there since we were in their emergency contacts lists. So…"

"You have to go?" I clarify, biting my lip. Looks like I won't be able to tell him after all.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Ad, but really, this is important. We don't know if Lilly and the other two just have broken bones or if they're almost dead." My eyes grow even wider. Okay, I _really _don't like her, but I don't want her _dead_, for God's sake.

"Oh my God. Okay. Go."

"Thanks, Adyson. I'll talk to you later and tell you and the others what happened. So…bye."

He and I both hang up, and I throw my head back against my sheets and sigh. I guess I'm going to have to tell him some other time. Now I'm going to be thinking about a girl with long blond hair and brown eyes for the next few hours.

Never in my life did I think I would be afraid about whether someone I hate is even alive.

* * *

_**The Brown Car**_

_**Django**_

"You good, Alana?" My dad asks my mom, who is buckling her seat belt in. She nods, and he turns back to me. I'm putting my cell phone away since I just had a conversation with Adyson about Lilly, and next to me is my mom's wheelchair. She was stationed in Iraq for a long time, and unfortunately, lost the bottom half of her legs in a bombing. So since she can't walk anymore until we get her prostheses, she uses a wheelchair. "How about you, son?"

"Yeah," I tell him. I keep wringing my hands in my lap and looking down at them, and my dad must notice, because he frowns as he backs out of the driveway.

"Are you sure? You look scared."

"Dad. Why _shouldn't _I be scared?" It comes out a lot more forceful than I intended it to, and my cheeks burn. But Dad nods.

"No, I'm sorry. I understand that you're concerned for your cousins and your uncle." He breathes in deeply. "I am, too."

Mom nods. "It's a good thing you are. You and Lilly have had your bad moments, but you two have always really shared a bond with each other, especially after that horrible car accident happened to her parents."

My dad looks away, and I know he's thinking of my Aunt Valerie, who was Lilly's mom and his sister. If it hadn't been for her, he and my mom would have never met. It's kind of a complicated story.

Mom then realizes what she said. "Oh God. I'm sorry, Beppo-"

"No, no, Alana, it's okay." He gives her a reassuring look. "I just worry that this accident…will do the same for Lilly, Grant, and Don as it did Valerie and Landon." He blinks several times while turning his eyes back onto the road and keeping them there.

Mom opens her mouth to reply, but I cut her off. I don't want to hear anything more of what could possibly have happened. It'll just upset me more. "So," I say loudly, hoping to possibly distract them. "How far are we from the hospital?"

Mom shrugs and turns to my dad, who replies with a stiff, "About a mile down the road."

We say nothing more for the rest of the trip, probably afraid of saying another wrong thing that'll just irritate someone else. When we pull into the parking lot of the hospital, Dad quietly takes Mom's wheelchair out of the seat next to me and helps her into it, me kind of just standing there. When she's settled and seated comfortably, the three of us walk/wheel ourselves over to the front door, still not saying a peep.

Walking inside, I try to avoid the stares of all of the other people in the wing. One guy's arm is all bloody, and it takes all of my strength not to vomit on the spot. There's a Boy Scout troop in the corner, all covered in poison ivy, and there's also a little girl just quietly sitting there with who I assume is her mother. But that's it, surprisingly. I was expecting more.

When we get to the counter, my dad clears his throat. "Hi," he tells the woman at the counter, who looks up. "We're here to see three different people today that were all involved in what we hear was a major car accident."

The nurse's eyes go big, and she drops her papers. Luckily, they just land on the desk in front of her, so her notes haven't gotten all scattered. She quickly adjusts her glasses. "Um…yes, of course. Dr. Xiong's been waiting for you. Um, follow me."

My parents and I glance quizzically at each other before following the nurse down a hallway. Other doctors pass us along the way and greet us, but we don't respond. I suddenly realize that I'm sweating and wipe my forehead on instinct.

The nurse finally leads us up to an older Asian guy standing by a door. He has a calm expression on his face, pretty much the opposite of the nurse, who has just looked terrified this entire time. "Hello," he greets us as she scurries away, shaking each of our hands. "I assume you are the Brown family?"

We all nod.

"I hope you got here okay. Jacqueline's new here and is still navigating our way around the hospital."

"Yes, we did, with no problem," my father informs the doctor. He adjusts his shirt collar. "I don't mean to sound rude when I ask you this, but we came here to know what happened with my stepbrother, niece, and nephew. Could you please tell us? Or, um, at least show us?"

"Of course, do not worry," Dr. Xiong assures him. He gestures to the door we're standing outside of. "The little one is inside here. What I will do is go to each person's separate room and inform you of what happened to each person in their own respective rooms. I will warn you in advance though that Grant is conscious while the other ones are not."

I feel both relief and shock, relief because Grant is awake and everyone is alive, but shock because Lilly and Uncle Don aren't conscious. I clutch the bottom of my shirt even tighter as my parents both nod.

"Grant is also very scared," the doctor tells us as he opens the door. "So be aware that-"

"Django!" I hear Grant cry, and I look up to see my nine-year old cousin in a hospital gown sitting on his bed. His leg is propped up on one of those wraps that hang from the ceiling and is also covered in a cast, but other than that and the fact that tears are streaking his face, he seems fine. "You came."

"Of course I did," I say, going over to his bed, Mom and Dad following me. I pat his hand since I don't know if anything else is okay for me to touch. "Is everything okay?"

I instantly regret what I said. _Way to be supportive, Django, _I think to myself sarcastically, mentally slapping myself. _Grant could have been killed for all I know and I ask if everything is okay. You're such an ass._

Grant just shrugs. "I don't know," he tells me, blinking repeatedly. "I don't know if Lilly or Uncle Don are okay. But the accident was _really _scary. I don't want to tell you about it."

We all look at Dr. Xiong, who gestures with his hand for us to join him on the other side of the room. When we reach that destination, he sighs and shakes his head. "As you can see, we haven't told him about his family yet, but there's a good reason." He draws in a breath. "His uncle and sister are…in critical condition, Lillian more than Donald."

"Um, can you define that, please?" Mom asks him, glancing over at my dad, who has gone pale.

The doctor looks at Grant, who is staring at all of us with wide eyes. He then sighs again and runs his hand through his hair. "I know you are all anxious to hear about the two, but I do not want the little one to find out yet," he whispers. "He won't understand. So what I will do is let you come back later after I take you to Lillian's and Donald's room, the latter being first since his condition is not anywhere near as worse as hers."

Oh my God. What could possibly be so bad that we can't even be in the same room as Grant when the doctor tells us what happened?

"So…" He hesitates, and then continues. "Just inform him of the fact that you will be back soon."

After we do just that, Grant protesting, we quickly file out of the room. Dr. Xiong draws in a deep breath. "Good gracious. That is one spazzy kid." He chuckles a little, but no one laughs. He clears his throat after realizing this. "Anyway…so I will take you to Donald's room and give you the details."

Leading us out of the pediatric ward requires us to step onto an elevator for a few minutes. After stepping out, the doctor quietly leads us to a room and opens the door. What's inside makes my mom's eyes widen and my dad to gasp.

On the bed is my uncle, head wrapped in many, many bandages. He kind of reminds me of a mummy.

"As you can see, he hit his head during the collision," he explains as my dad rushes over, face as pale as a codfish. "What we believe happened was that Lillian reached over and took control of the car, making it swerve into the wrong direction, making their car collide into the other vehicle."

I roll my eyes. Only Lilly would do something like that.

"And according to the accident scene, the car tipped over, and the door flew off," Dr. Xiong continues as he takes out a set of X-rays and puts them onto a screen. "This made Donald's head crash violently against the cement, making his skull fracture."

My father stares at him in horror. "What?" he squeaks, voice sounding a lot higher than usual.

"He will be all right, do not worry," the doctor assures him. "All that will be needed is a surgery. I will spare you the large words that come with it since many people find those confusing, but what will happen is that they will put the piece that broke back inside of his head and stitch it up. It will take him a few weeks to recover."

"So…nothing life threatening?" Dad clarifies, and Dr. Xiong shakes his head.

"None that we know of. What we hope is that within a few months, Donald will be completely back to normal."

My father nods slowly as he looks down at his stepbrother again, but I speak up. "Hold on," I say, and the doctor looks at me in surprise, likely due to the fact that I haven't said anything in this room yet and I'm just now talking. "You said _this _wasn't serious? But what about Lilly? What could possibly be more serious than _this_? Are you frickin' _insane_?"

"Django Brown," Mom says sharply. "Language."

"Sorry," I sigh. "But really, what's wrong with my cousin, doctor? Will she be okay?"

The doctor remains silent for the next minute, and I start to wonder if he's gone sick or something before he finally sighs. "I never like having to tell patients this," he mutters. He looks at my parents, whose eyes have both now widened, and me. My heart is now racing. "Come with me. She is in the next room. You can come back here later-"

Instantly, I bolt out of the room past the doctor, leaving everything in my path windswept. I bounce on the tips of my toes by the door of the next room, looking like I'm three years old and I'm waiting to go to the bathroom, but I can't wait any longer. I _have _to find out what happened to my cousin.

A few minutes later, the three adults walk/wheel out of the room. My mom glares at me. "Honestly, Django. Could you have been in the room with your uncle for another _second_?"

My cheeks burn. She's right, in a way. "Sorry-"

"Never mind." She exhales noisily. "I know you're anxious to see your cousin, and I understand that. But you could at least be a bit more respectful."

My dad and the doctor have kind of awkwardly been standing there this whole time. "Um…so let us walk in the room," Dr. Xiong quietly mumbles.

As soon as he opens the door, I _run _in. I hear my dad doing the same thing, Mom rolling her wheelchair quickly, and the doctor just has this weird look on his face as I run over to the side of the bed and stare down at Lilly.

Her face has been scrubbed clean of makeup, and she's covered in a hospital gown. Her beautiful blond hair is up in a sloppy ponytail, and the sheets are covering the rest of her body. I can't help but chuckle. If she could see herself right now, she'd freak. But what puzzles me is that she actually looks fine. When I repeat that last sentence to the doctor, he bites his lip.

"I understand that you think that," he replies, rubbing his hands together. "But the thing is…she is _not _fine."

"Well, what _happened_?" my mother snaps. Gosh, she's in a really bad mood today. Not that I blame her.

"All right, all right," Dr. Xiong says, holding his hands up. "I will tell you of what happened during the accident. Grant informed us of this information."

I sit myself down in a plastic chair in case I end up fainting, which is entirely possible in this case.

"Basically, when the vehicles clashed and the car turned onto its side, Lillian fell out of her seat since she happened to not be wearing a seat belt. Neither was Donald, for that matter."

Dad groans and covers his forehead, shaking his head. He mumbles something under his breath that I can't hear.

"Grant managed to escape from his seat somehow, jump out into the grass, breaking his leg in the process, and dial 911. But it was that split second when the car fell over onto the girl."

My hand flies up to my mouth.

"It just barely missed Donald, luckily, or else he would have been crushed fully and likely would have been killed. Lillian pushed him out of the way, since she only had a few scratches from falling out, and the car landed on her."

Mom's mouth falls open, and my dad sinks down to the floor. I'm only staring in horror at the doctor.

"It compressed the bottom part of her spine and broke her legs. However…" The doctor now looks away. "She won't ever feel it."

What? When we look at him in confusion, he clarifies. "Lillian, for the rest of her life, will be paralyzed from the waist down. Meaning that…she will never walk again."

Dad blinks repeatedly, apparently unresponsive. Mom puts her head in her hands, and when she looks back up again, a few tears stain her cheeks. But I'm too much in shock to cry. Instead, I just stare down at my cousin in sadness. "Never again?" I say, my voice cracking.

The doctor nods, looking regretful. "Never again," he informs me. "I am terribly sorry."

And that's when the dam breaks. I sink down to the floor and instantly start sobbing, not caring that everyone in the room is staring at me.

My cousin, Lillian Samantha Carlson, will never walk again. Never will she run a mile in gym class again. Never will she jump or skip or dance on her two legs again.

And all because of a car.

**Next Chapter Preview: About a month later. How's Lilly doing? And will Adyson finally have the chance to tell Django of what she's going through?**

* * *

**So…what do you guys think? Now that Lilly has to use a wheelchair her entire life, how do you think she's going to react when she finds out?**


	14. Django is Number 7

_**About a month later, Saturday, November 4**_

_**Danville Hospital**_

_**Lilly**_

"Now, turn it to the right," Nurse Anna commands me encouragingly. Grudgingly, I do as she says and make the wheelchair spin to that direction.

"Make a sharp turn to the left."

Again, I listen to her, biting my lip while doing so.

"And…you should be good." Nurse Anna examines her clipboard and makes a few marks on it. "I'll see you back in this room next week, all right? Keep practicing."

"Whatever," I grumble. Turning the chair away, I make it go out of the room and into the hallway. As usual, it's loud, noisy, and pretty chaotic. But since the day I came here, it's been like that. And considering it's been a month, you could say I haven't been happy with the conditions here.

But the conditions are nothing compared to why I'm even here.

Wheeling myself into my hospital room, I sigh and glance over at the latest teen magazine that just came out. My brother must have slipped it in here while I was out in the therapy room. He was able to go home with my grandmother a few days after the accident, but my uncle and I have had to stay here until people are certain that we're okay.

Uncle Don had his surgery about two weeks ago, and he's doing great. He hasn't been able to get out of bed or anything, but the doctors claim that he will soon be good enough to go home.

Meaning that I will be the only family member left in this place, since I have to learn how to use the wheelchair for the rest of my life and they want to be sure I'll be all right before letting me go home and back to school, back to homework and my friends and the many people I hate.

Speaking of friends and people I hate, I've actually gotten a lot of support from them. Everyone except for Irving (since I obviously didn't want _him _there) has visited me at least once since I've been here. Some stayed longer than others, like Django. He apparently was crushed when he found out I was now a paraplegic and would never walk again. Some of my other friends were, too. Here's what everyone else said at the first sight of me in a wheelchair.

_Phineas: (eyes widened) Oh my gosh. Lilly, are you sure you don't want Ferb and I to make a walking machine for you or something?_

_Ferb: (blinks and stares at me)_

_Isabella: (staring at me sadly) Gosh Lilly, I'm so sorry for what you're going through._

_Baljeet: Are you aware of the fact that some people are paralyzed throughout their entire bodies? You are very lucky to only be the waist down, if anything._

_Buford: Whoa._

_Emily: That's bloody awful, Lilly. I'm really sorry._

_Vienna: At least you never wanted to be on a stage. There aren't that many roles for handicapped people. I'm just saying._

_Ginger: You know, just because you're going through this doesn't mean I like you. Baljeet made me come visit you._

_Adyson: And I thought what _I _was going through was bad. (I look at her quizzically) Uh…never mind._

_Katie: I'm sorry about you never walking again. That really sucks._

_Milly: I made brownies for you…do you want any?_

_Savannah: Wow. Um…wow._

_Aubrey: (looking at me in shock) I wished to the unicorns of Fairy-Tale Land to make you better. Why didn't they listen to me?_

_Holly: (in tears) Oh my God. Lilly…I can't believe it. You'll never walk again._

As you can see, some were nicer than others. But you know what? I don't really care. I made this happen to myself, so I'm going to have to accept the consequences from it. And one of those consequences is going to have to be the fact that people are going to pity me when I don't want to feel pitied.

With a sigh, I turn my head towards the shabby hospital bed. I was allowed to have my sheets from home brought here (courtesy of Grant and Grandma), but I wish I could be back home, where at least I'm comfortable in my environment. Here, I only live in a cramped hospital room and get pretty much all of my meals from the café downstairs. Sometimes I'm even allowed to go out and eat, as long as I'm with a friend or something, usually Django and/or Holly since they're the closest to me.

But even with all that, my life still sucks. And it's only going to keep being like this until I'm released from the hospital or if I miraculously will be able to walk again.

_That _would be my dream come true. There's only one problem.

There's no possible _way_ for me to walk again. Not even if Phineas and Ferb helped the doctors build a prototype.

* * *

_**Outside the Brown Residence**_

_**Adyson**_

My nails have been bitten down so much that they're almost bleeding. My hair looks like a garden that's been torn up. I don't even think my eyeliner looks presentable. But there's a good reason for that.

I'm going to tell Django today before we visit Lilly at the hospital.

I know I can't possibly wait any longer. I'm now almost two months along, and I've started to have some morning sickness. It's made my mom and brother kind of suspicious.

* * *

_~Flashback, three days before_

_(I'm clutching my stomach at breakfast. Looking down at the scrambled eggs Mom made, it's making me feel sick. Mom and Noah are both looking at me strangely.)_

_Mom: Adyson, are you feeling all right?_

_Me: What? *nervous chuckle* Yeah, of course. I never get sick._

_Noah: Did something hit you on the head or something and you're feeling woozy the way you always used to as a kid?_

_Me: *glaring* No._

_Mom: Because if you're sick, Ad, that's okay. You can just stay home from school-_

_Me: No, that's okay. I swear, I'm fine. I'm just not hungry. _

_(I push my chair back from the table and leave, making Mom and Noah look at each other.)_

* * *

See what I mean? I figure soon enough they're going to realize that something's fishy, especially since it's probably going to keep happening. And there's also the whole getting fat thing. As I stand at the front door of Django's house, not willing to scan my finger yet, I glance down at my stomach. It's still pretty much flat, but I know that within the next month, it won't be. That's why I have to tell my boyfriend before he figures it out himself.

Finally, after taking a deep breath, I lift up my finger and press it to the scanner. These came out a few years ago. Basically what you do is that the first time you come into someone's house, you're supposed to scan your finger. The system then reads it later when you come back, and then if it recognizes it, it will ring the bell for the people inside. Pretty cool, huh? That way no crazy people can get inside.

And by crazy, I mean people that kill crazy. Not crazy like me.

A few seconds later, Django opens the door. His hair is as floppy and adorable as it always has been, and his usual grin is lit up on his face. "Hey, Ad," he greets me. He gestures to the dining room table, and I quickly brush past him to sit down. My legs are starting to feel like jelly.

And of course, Mrs. Brown is there at the stove, stirring a pot of what I assume is soup. Yes, even though she's in a wheelchair temporarily, she still knows how to work the magic of a stove. She then glances at me, and she smiles. Hers and Django's are identical. "Hello, Adyson," she says cheerfully. "Good to see you again."

I nod weakly as Django walks back into the kitchen. "Gosh, I'm hungry," he complains, seating himself down opposite from me. "Are you almost done, Mom?"

Mrs. Brown makes a face at him. "In about half an hour," she informs him, and my boyfriend's face falls.

"But _Mom-_"

"Grab a granola bar or something if you're hungry before dinner." She gestures to the pantry that sits by the refrigerator. "It's been like that since you were little. You know that."

Grumbling, Django gets out of his seat, walks to the pantry, grabs a granola bar, and walks out of the kitchen. I hear him walk slowly up the stairs, and Mrs. Brown sighs. "Honest to God, teenage boys and their appetite…" she mumbles. She then seems to remember that I'm there and gives me a weary smile. "Go see what he's up to, please Adyson? He doesn't seem to listen to me that much these days."

Well, sure, because I was going to do that anyways, but whatever. I nod, clutching my stomach at the same time since that sick feeling keeps on rolling around in there, and attempt to walk up the stairs and into Django's room.

He's simply just sitting down on his bed, staring into space with the granola bar wrapper in his hand, but he brightens up when he sees me sluggishly walking into the room. "Hey, Ad. Is my mom done?"

I give him a look, and he clamps his lips shut. "Right. She _did _say it would be half an hour. I'm dumb."

I say nothing in response since I'm afraid that what I want to say will just spill out of my mouth. Either that or vomit.

"So anyway. Lilly seems to be pretty miserable these days." He bites his lip. "I can't think of anything that could have been worse to happen in a car accident, other than death, of course. At least she's not dead."

"True," I manage to squeak out, holding my stomach even tighter. The vomit is just threatening to come up my throat.

"So I'm glad I get to see her every few days," he continues, completely oblivious as to what his girlfriend is going through right next to him. "And you've only seen her once in the hospital, right?"

I nod.

"I know you two aren't, um, friends, but I think it's good that you agreed to come. Lilly would never admit it, but she misses all of you and insulting us." He chuckles. "Last time I went, she told me that my hair looked like there were dirty dinosaur eggs in there and she found it disgusting. So I drew her a picture of dinosaur eggs on someone's head, and she laughed _really _hard. It was the first time I had seen a smile on her face since she'd been there."

Okay. Now I'm feeling _really _sick. "Um…Django?" I'm finally able to squeak, and he looks over at me.

"What?"

"Where's your bathroom?" I'm now holding my mouth shut with the palm of my hand.

"Um…down the hallway to the right. Why-"

In the next instant, I'm running out of the room and am leaning over the toilet, finally emptying my insides out. I don't know how long I stay in there, but it was certainly enough time for Django to kind of stand behind me awkwardly as I finish. "Um…are you sick?" he asks me lamely, and I turn my head up to glare at him.

"No, I swallowed a bunch of yellow bird poop earlier and am just now spitting it out," I tell him sarcastically, grabbing some toilet paper off of the roll and wiping my mouth.

He blinks at me. "Really?"

I groan. "No." I walk out of the bathroom, Django following close behind, and sit back down on his bed. He doesn't seem to care about a sick person being there, so I remain. "It's called sarcasm, genius."

"Oh. Right. Sorry." He rubs the back of his neck. "Are you feeling okay? Do you need to go home? I'm sure Lilly will survive without you-"

"No," I interrupt quickly. Too quickly. I try to swallow down the lump in my throat and attempt to control my sweating, since I know I'm getting to the moment. "It's…um…"

He looks at me expectantly. "What?" he asks. Now he's looking a little nervous.

"Um…oh my God, Django, I don't think I can tell you." I look away and fiddle with my sweatshirt pocket.

"Adyson." This catches my attention, since he rarely calls me by my full name. But I still don't look at him as he continues. "You know you can tell me anything. What's the matter?"

"It's not that easy," I moan. I stand up and begin pacing, waving my hands around in the air as I speak. "I'm talking about a life-changing event here."

Django blinks at me once again. "Life…changing?" he echoes.

"Yes." I attempt to hold back my tears and just barely make it to the point of not. "Someone, s-some guy, tricked me into doing it. He got me drunk and then made me get serious with him, and t-that's how I got the way I am now."

He doesn't get it right away. As soon as the words escape my mouth, he's giving me this look of confusion. After about a minute however, dawning falls onto his face, and he instantly turns pale. Paler than Edward Cullen when he's sparkling in the sun in the stupid way he does it. "You're…pregnant?" he whispers, covering his mouth with his hand. He has this look of horror on his face.

Before I can do more than just nod, however, I hear a gasp. And it's not from either one of us, because I'm facing Django and I'm pretty sure I said nothing. So when both sets of our eyes turn slowly towards the doorway, mine lock onto his dad's eyes. He looks even more horrorstruck than his son, if that's possible.

Oh shit.

"D-Dad," Django stammers, rising out of his seat on the bed. "I-I swear, we didn't-"

"ALANA!" Mr. Brown yells. "GET UP HERE!"

Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. I curl up into a ball and will myself to disappear. It doesn't work, unfortunately, and Mrs. Brown rushes into the room on her wheelchair. Gosh, that elevator they have works fast. "What?" she asks her husband, looking very annoyed. She's holding a wooden spoon. "The soup is almost done-"

"Are you aware," Mr. Brown says slowly, pointing a shaking finger towards his son, who is now pure white. "That your almost eighteen-year old son was engaging in some…_physical _activity with his girlfriend?"

Oh my God. I want to die.

Mrs. Brown stares in disbelief at Django. "No," she says, narrowing her eyes. "I did not."

"And apparently, he's impregnated her. How about that?"

Now her mouth has dropped wide open, but before she can say anything else, I speak up. "Stop," I command. "It's true that I'm…pregnant, but it's not Django's."

Both of the Brown parents look at me quizzically. "You cheated on him?" Mrs. Brown says in a deadpan tone. She looks at her husband while rolling her eyes. "First it happens to Jenny, and now Django."

"Well…yes. But no. See, the guy that did it to me tricked me into doing it by getting me drunk. He claimed the beer was an apple juice, and I believed him."

"This…wasn't one of your friends, was it?" Mr. Brown wonders. He's starting to look very embarrassed. "Not Django's?"

"No," I assure him. "I didn't even know the guy, hardly. All I know is that his name is Kyle and he goes to Danville University."

Mrs. Brown bites her lip and glances over at her son. "Well…um, we apologize, Django. We…didn't know."

"I almost had a heart attack," Mr. Brown moans. He then glances down at his paint-streaked hands, and his eyes widen. "These remind me of why I even passed your room in the first place. I have to sign those papers to officially start construction on that building where my art will be permanently displayed. Gotta go." With that, he scurries away.

Mrs. Brown sighs and rakes a hand through her long, brown hair. "Looks like I'll be going as well." Before she can wheel herself away, however, she glances at me. "Um, Adyson, who else is aware of this? The…pregnancy, and all that?"

"Our friends Isabella and Vienna," I inform her, and Django blinks at me. "And they both swore they wouldn't tell anyone."

She frowns. "Your family doesn't know?"

I shake my head no, and she gives me a quizzical look. "And how far along are you?"

"Two months. Almost."

Mrs. Brown bites her lip as she slowly wheels away to the elevator Phineas and Ferb attached for them a few months ago for free. "Better sooner rather than later, Adyson. Keep that in mind." With that, she presses the button, and the elevator descends downstairs.

Django breathes a sigh of relief once she's gone. "Wow," he finishes. "That…was something."

"You think?" I flop back against the bed. "I am _so _sorry that they thought we…um, _did _it."

He turns bright red. "Um…yeah."

We kind of sit there in awkward silence for a few seconds, which doesn't last long. "So, um, are you all right with me being…you know?"

Django gives me a look, and sits himself up better. "Well, you claim that you were tricked into doing it?"

I nod repeatedly. "I swear on this kid's life." I gesture downwards at my stomach. "Seriously."

His eyes widen. "Wow. That's big." He nods, and then surprises me by smiling. "Then yes. I forgive you."

I smile back. "Thanks."

We end the conversation in a hug. Yeah, yeah, really corny ending, I know, but if it's what happened, there's really nothing you can do about it.

Right?

**Next Chapter Preview: Someone decides that they can't keep the secret any longer and finally give it out. To the entire school. Yeah, that's great, right? Only shocking thing: It's not Ginger.**

* * *

**So Django forgave Adyson for the whole incident, thank goodness. I could tell that a lot of you were worried about that. But don't worry. I highly doubt any more of the couples will be breaking up, but I may or may not change my mind about that.**

**And Lilly's not doing well, but she's not doing horribly, either. So that's sort of a good thing.**

**But I bet that preview has some of you in shock…who would _dare _to say such a thing to the whole school? Poor Adyson. The girl can never get a break, can she?**


	15. Who Could've Done it?

_**Sunday, November 5**_

_**Mystery Person…**_

I still don't know why I want to do something like this. It's really mean, and I know that it's not right. Not right at all. But I just can't keep it inside of me anymore. This kind of a secret is too big for me to keep.

A certain someone is standing over my shoulder, and that person is staring at me in horror, wondering why I'm going through with typing the biggest secret in the school out for the entire universe to see, basically.

But like I said, I can't keep it any longer. Besides, I'm putting it down as _Anonymous_, anyway, so it doesn't matter. And I'm sure no one will suspect _me _of being the person behind it, especially since I'm so busy in my usual hobby most of the time.

No. There's no way anyone will figure it out right away. And hopefully, if I have luck, it can stay that way forever.

* * *

_**Monday, November 6**_

_**Danville High School Hallway**_

_**Adyson**_

Everyone's been staring at me all day.

Why? I don't know. I look as normal as usual, and I'm not any bigger than I was yesterday. But as I'm walking down the hallway, people look at me and then whisper to their friends, some snickering afterwards and then pointing at me.

I mean, it's not like I give a crap about what people think of me anyway, but this is…weird. Even the other cheerleaders that aren't seniors have been given me the same looks.

"So _that's _why she quit cheerleading," Daphne Burkholder, a sophomore cheerleader, tells her other two cheerleader friends, who are all wide-eyed and staring at her in disbelief. Daphne, meanwhile, has a smug look on her face, and as I stop by my locker, I can't help but listen in to the conversation.

"Wow," Morgan Barry, replies. She clutches her books tighter to her chest and stares at me, and I pretend not to hear. Besides, I don't even know what they're talking about.

"I didn't think she and Django Brown were that serious," Julianne Voldsen informs them, and I stop in my tracks. She tosses her strawberry-blond hair over her shoulder and continues. "Last I checked, they were pretty subtle about their relationship."

Daphne smirks. "Well, of course they were," she says in a _duh _tone. "They didn't want anyone to know. But thanks to that post on the school website, everybody does."

A sick feeling rises in my stomach, and it takes all of my strength not to vomit on the spot. These girls that I _barely _know know that I'm pregnant? And they think the baby's Django's?

I might be seriously be sick.

"But who wrote it?" Morgan wonders.

Daphne shrugs and twists a piece of poofy blond hair around her finger. "No clue. It was listed as anonymous."

Okay, I can't stand to hear this anymore. I _have_ to confront Isabella, Vienna, and Django and ask them whotold everyone. Angrily, I slam my locker shut, startling the girls, and stomp down the hallway in search of my friends and boyfriend. Along the way, people are still whispering and giggling, but I ignore them. They're the least of my worries right now.

However, before I can get to any of them, Coach approaches me in the hallway. "Hey, Sweets," she calls out, and I have no choice but to stop.

"What," I say grouchily.

"Is this true?" She gestures to the crowd of kids, who are still staring at me. "That you're…" She lowers her voice. "Pregnant?"

"Yeah," I say bluntly. "Why do you care?" I don't care that I'm being rude. I need to find Isabella, Vienna, and/or Django.

Coach sighs. "It's just that…now that you, Blondie, and Dictionary are off the squad, it just concerned me when I found out. I wanted to be sure that you were-"

"I'm _fine_," I tell her, now extremely irritated. Before she can continue, I hurry away, desperately scanning the crowd. Unfortunately, I end up bumping into someone else, and that someone is Buford. He raises his eyebrows at me, but before he can open his mouth, I interject. "Yeah, yeah, I'm pregnant. Oh my God, I know. But it's not Django's."

Buford blinks in confusion. "Um…whoa. That's…crazy. But I was just gonna ask you what lunch is today."

My face burns in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry. Um…it's tacos."

"Thanks." He begins to walk away, but I stop him.

"Wait. Um…have you seen your girlfriend anywhere? I've been trying to find her."

"Over there." Buford points behind me, and I turn around to see Vienna, talking to Katie, Savannah, and Milly. They all have worried expressions on their faces, which means they're probably talking about me. Wonderful.

"Thanks." I walk as quickly as I can towards my best friend, whose hair sticks out in the crowd from everyone else's, thank God, or else I likely would have lost her. But somehow, Vienna spots me first and waves me over. The others just look uncomfortable.

"Hi," I say gruffly.

"Hey," Vienna tells me. Her face is now filled with sadness. "Adyson, I _swear_, I didn't put it on there. Isabella insists she didn't, either."

"Where _is _she?"

"She told me she was going to make out with Phineas somewhere." When I give her my most horrorstruck face, she rolls her eyes. "No, I kid. I don't really know."

The other three have just kind of stood there in silence, looking so uneased that I almost feel sorry for them. "Um…I'll see you guys later," Katie says awkwardly. She turns and hurries away, but not before glancing briefly at my stomach. Milly and Savannah instantly follow her, not saying a word.

"God, Vienna," I moan when they're out of hearing range. I bury my face in my hands. "This is bad. This is so, _so _bad. Who would have _done_ something like this?"

The Broadway star-wannabe shrugs her shoulders, looking pained. "I don't know. I mean, you only told Isabella, Django, and I, and rest assured, none of us said anything. The only way I can _possibly _imagine someone else finding out is if they overheard yours and Isabella's conversation."

I wrinkle my nose. "I'm pretty sure we would have noticed that."

"Well, it's entirely possible," she insists. "Who was in the bathroom after your mishap with the whole pyramid thing?"

"Holly…and Ginger…" I say slowly. My eyes then widen. "Ginger. Oh my God."

"You don't think…" Her voice falters.

"Yes." My eyes narrow. "Yes I do. She must have hidden in a stall or something." I begin to walk down the hallways in search for her. It's a damn good thing we don't have to be in class for another ten minutes this morning, or else I would have gotten a tardy by now.

Vienna shakes her head as she practically jogs behind me due to her unbelievably short stature. "Adyson, Ginger would _never_ say a secret this big-"

"Or would she?" I spot her by her locker putting a few of her books away, and my fists clench. "There she is."

"Adyson, _please_," she begs, but I pretend not to hear her as I walk up to the Asian and tap her on the shoulder. When she turns around, her eyes widen.

"Hey…Adyson," she squeaks. "Look, I'm sorry for what happened, but-"

"How _could _you? !" I shriek, holding on to her shoulders and squeezing them. Vienna shoots me a glare, but I ignore her. "I made it _very _clear in that bathroom that I wanted it to be kept a _secret_!"

She winces beneath my grip. "Adyson, it _wasn't_ me-"

"Really?" I say skeptically. I tighten my hold of her. "Prove it, and I'll let go of you."

"I'll admit that I told Baljeet," Ginger informs me. She bites her lip. "But I swear, I didn't tell _anyone _else. Baljeet didn't, either. He promised he wouldn't. I just had to tell _one _person-"

"Whatever." I release her, and she steps back and takes long, melodramatic gulps in the air. I roll my eyes before continuing. "Who else do you think could have done it?"

She looks unsure of herself, so I just groan and stomp away, Vienna slowly lagging behind me. "Um…do you want me to break out into song the way they always do in the movies when someone's down?" She begins to sing. "_Kiss today goodbye, the sweetness and the sorrow-_"

"The last thing I want to hear is Broadway music," I snap, interrupting the random music and the spotlight that had started to shine on her. "No offense."

She stops singing. "Fine," she sighs. "But it's a _really _good song-"

"Maybe later." I try to ignore the endless snickering and points around me. "Um…you should get to class. I'll see you then."

Vienna frowns. "Are you sure-"

"_Yes_," I interrupt for the third time in a row. I put my hands in the pocket of my sweatshirt and focus my gaze on the gym doors. "Go. I swear, I'm fine."

She blinks. "Well…if you really think so…"

"I do. Goodbye."

Vienna hesitates, and I'm about to start being rude about her going away before she turns away. I can hear her sing quietly under her breath. "_Wish me luck, the same to you…_"

I feel kind of bad about making her go, since I normally like to hear her sing, but I need to be alone for a few seconds. And I've just thought of the way I can be.

When the bell rings, making everyone scurry out of the halls into their respective classrooms, I slip into the gym. After locating the bleachers, I run inside of them, go as far back into the corner as I can (for some reason, there's a sleeping bag and a backpack here, but I don't think anything of it), sink to the ground, and just let all of my emotions out.

I don't know how long I've been here, but it certainly hasn't been too long before I hear another voice say, "Hey."

Startled, I snap my head up, wiping the tears and my eyeliner off of my face in the process. Standing in front of me is a girl with mostly pink hair, an off-the-shoulder black top, a black and white knee-length skirt, and fishnet stockings stuffed into high black boots. She's also wearing a ton of eye makeup, and the way she's staring at me makes her seem even scarier. "Um…hi," I say lamely. I toss my brown hair over my shoulder and avoid her gaze.

She wrinkles her brow. "You don't recognize me, do you?" she asks me flatly. I shake my head, and she sighs and pulls out a cigarette from the pack on the floor. "You better not react in the same way _she _did…"

"Who's she?"

"No one," she replies immediately, biting the inside of her cheek when she thinks I'm not looking. The girl then lights her cigarette and brings it to her lips. "It's Gretchen."

I blink and stare at the girl, looking for any form of the annoying girl from my old Fireside Girl troop. Sure, she _sounds _like her, but…I don't see it. When I repeat this information to her, the girl rolls her eyes and sighs, breathing out smoke. "Looks like I'm going to have to dig out the old thing," she deadpans. "Give me the backpack."

"This backpack?" I gesture to the one in the corner that I'm sitting right by.

"No, the one sitting on an elephant's back in India," the girl sarcastically informs me. "Yes, that backpack."

I give her a dirty look and hand her the surprisingly heavy backpack, which she immediately zips open. She then tugs out a small book and throws it to me. "Here." Taking another puff of smoke, she stands up and stretches one of her arms out. "If this doesn't convince you of who I am, I don't know _what _will." Now it's her turn to avoid my gaze. "Isabella left it here when she…found me. It's a long story."

Deciding not to question anything, I look down at the book. On the front, it says _Fireside Girl Memories_. There's a picture of Troop 46231 on the front. All of us, even Lilly and Ginger, are clearly cheerful, and not in a fake way.

Oh my God. I remember this scrapbook. Gretchen had made it. It was right before we all entered middle school and all of the drama started to happen. These were the good times. I glance up at Gretchen, who gives me an '_I told you so' _look. "Wow…Gretchen," I cough, not really knowing what else to say. "You've certainly…changed."

She doesn't respond, instead just sliding down next to me. "So what brings you here?" she asks me, not exactly in a friendly way, but not a mean way, either.

That's when I remember why I came here in the first place. I gulp and try to answer her question. "Um…"

"You're pregnant," she tells me flatly. When I turn to gape at her, she shrugs. "I get the Internet on my cell phone easily. I check the school website every day. Why? I don't know. I just do." She puts the cigarette back to her lips and inhales. "I'm sorry about what you're going through, though. That really sucks."

I don't know why I just now burst into tears again, but I do. While I sit there crying, I can see Gretchen just kind of awkwardly sitting there, not really knowing what to do. So I do my best to stop. "I-I'm sorry," I sniffle, wiping my nose on my sleeve. "I-It's just that now _everyone _knows, even the l-l-little kids here. And I-I don't know who _did_ it. That's the worst thing."

Gretchen blinks at me, and for a split second, I can see the girl I once knew, even if she's buried underneath gothic clothing and heavy black eyeliner. "Well…" She hesitates before continuing. "Just ask everyone, I guess. And if any of them seems apprehensive, then you know that they're the person who did it. It's that simple."

I shrug. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. People were out to find out, anyway." Biting my lip, I add, "My family still doesn't know, though."

She stares at me in shock. "What?"

"I know, I know, I need to tell them-"

"You really do," she insists. Is that _worry _in her tone of voice? "Adyson, trust me. If you have a secret that important…you _have _to tell someone. I'm serious."

I can't figure out why she's being so nice to me, considering the fact that I can't remember the last I said two words to her in the past year that weren't 'you' and 'suck', but I figure I'll take it to my advantage. So I simply just nod. "Right…I will. Soon."

She nods back before looking down at the cigarette in her hand. Even though it's obviously not finished, she throws it down to the ground and stamps her boot on it.

But all I can think about is what she told me. When _will _I tell my family?

**Next Chapter Preview: Major Monogram checks on Ferb to see how he's doing with the secret. Has Ferb been able to keep it?**

* * *

**Hmm…so we have ourselves a mystery here, now don't we? I hope I didn't make it obvious as to who the person who posted it on the website was…but I will tell you that a _lot _of you guessed wrong, but a few were right. I'm just saying.**

**And how did you like revisiting Gretchen? It's a little strange how she's being so mean to Isabella, who's always been nice to her, and was sort of nice to Adyson, who really wasn't nice to her previously. But that has to do with something that will come up again later.**

**By the way, I'm getting tired of torturing Adyson…so the next couple of chapters will focus on other people. Are we good? Good. **


	16. Ferb Meets with Monogram

_**Thursday, November 9, 4:38 PM**_

_**The Kinney Residence**_

_**Emily**_

"Nothing to worry of, Mum," I call out over my shoulder as I straighten some of the pillows on the couch out of sheer boredom. Ferb is supposed to be coming over sometime soon, but he's a little late. Which is a bit odd, seeing as he lives literally right across the street from me. "I've finished my homework and everything, except for that project Ferb and I are doing together."

Mum walks into the room, dressed in her ratty old apron. I keep on asking her to get a new one, but for some reason, she always refuses to. "Which project?"

"The one for health class," I explain. I step back and examine the pillows I've set up, nodding in approval. "We have to find a disease to look up and explain how it can affect the human body, as well as what treatments can be used to possibly stop it."

Mum nods slowly as she looks inside of the freezer. Her head emerges from it, her face looking disgusted. "Of course your father forgot to defrost the chicken," she mutters. She then returns her attention from me and offers me a weary smile. "So it's a group project, then? That's good."

I nod just as the doorbell rings. My pet fox Kiki starts to yip at the sound of it, so I pick her up from the floor, go over, and open the door. Standing there is my boyfriend, backpack on his shoulders, with his pet platypus Perry beside him. "Hello," I say cheerfully, letting the two walk in. Mum peers in from the kitchen as I hug Ferb. "So why is Perry here?"

For some reason, he bites his lip, but then returns to looking normal. "Um…it's been a while since he and Kiki have seen each other, so I figured it would be alright for him to come." He glances down at Perry, who is looking up at Kiki. My fox is squirming in my grip, so I put her down and let her and her friend go play. "It's fine, right?"

"Oh, yes, of course," I assure him. I gesture to the living room couch. "Sit down and get set up. I'll get us a snack or something."

He nods swiftly before moving his gaze over to Perry. I frown. Normally he's quiet, but not really around me. Something can't be right.

Figuring it was just something that happened at home earlier, I shrug it off and walk towards the kitchen.

* * *

_**Ferb**_

As soon as Emily exits the room, Perry and Kiki switch to their agent forms, clad with their fedoras. He had shown me in one of his pictures from his hat that Kiki, as well as Isabella's dog Pinky and Aubrey's cats Fuzz McGuzz, Charity, and Chevrolet, were also agents. However, only Perry and Kiki worked in Major Monogram's division.

Perry chatters at me. On his face is a worried expression, and I groan, putting my head in my hands. "Yes, I know," I complain. "I shouldn't have agreed to come here on the day that Major Monogram wants to meet with me. I know."

The platypus rolls his eyes, and Kiki shoots him a glare. Perry pretends not to notice.

"But what I'm failing to understand," I continue, glancing nervously at the doorway. I don't think Emily wouldn't find it weird if she found me talking to animals. "Is why you can't just enter through one of the lairs in this house. If Kiki works for Monogram as well, why is it an issue?"

The animals look at each other. Finally, Perry sighs and throws his paws up in the air, and I give him a confused expression. Kiki looks at me, and then grabs a random white board, beginning to write on it. About a minute later, she shows me the message.

_When Majer Monogram wants to meat with us, we have diffrent laers. He nose which one of us meets with him by which laers we go into._

Perry rolls his eyes again and grabs the white board, erasing that message and writing a new one.

_Sorry, Ferb. She's a horrible speller._

Kiki notices this, scowls at the platypus, and snatches the white board back out of his paws.

_Not trew. Not trew at all._

By now, I've started to get a little annoyed, both with the situation and Kiki's spelling of things. "All right, all right," I interrupt, and they both stare up at me. Normally, I don't interject into conversations, but that wasn't really even a conversation, just a disagreement. "Emily's going to be here any second, and I need to know _before _she gets here how to get Perry to Major-"

"Ferb?" Emily unknowingly interrupts, and I start in my chair and turn around. The blond is standing there with a plate of crackers and cheese, looking confused. Her face is also bright red. "Did you…say something?"

I shake my head quickly, glancing down at the animals, who have returned to their 'normal' forms, so to speak. "No, Em. I didn't."

She smiles for a split second before setting down the plate. Emily then picks up one of the textbooks and begins to flip through it. "Sorry that took so long. Mum wanted to have a little chat with me. Odd, but what was I going to do? Not?"

I shrug, not really knowing how to respond. I notice that Perry is looking straight at me and tapping his wrist impatiently, looking very annoyed. Kiki's glaring at him on the corner of her eye.

"Um…could I have a minute, Em? Perry doesn't look…right," I fib, walking over and picking him up, in which he chatters. "I'm going to…take him to the bathroom."

She blinks as she reaches back and tightens the blue bow tied in her hair. "Oh. Um, sure. Go ahead. I'll get us set up."

I nod again before hastily walking out of the living room and into the nearby bathroom. Shutting the door behind me, I set Perry on the counter and put my hands on my hips. "Well?" I demand. "What are we going to do? Can't we just reschedule our 'appointment' for another time?"

Perry gives me a look. This look means, _No. What are you, an idiot?_

I sigh. Normally, I hate talking so much to someone that isn't Emily, but I really don't have a choice in this case, since Perry can't talk and never will, not even with an animal translator. "Fine. But is this _really _that important? Why can't _you_ tell Monogram _yourself _how I've been doing with the secret?"

He crosses his arms and glares at me.

"All right, whatever, so you can't do that. But how on bloody Earth are we going to get you and I back home without Em being suspicious of anything?"

He bites the bottom of his bill, and I can tell that he's truly thinking it through. All of a sudden, his face brightens. He takes the fedora he had put on in here off his head, sticks it back wherever he sticks it back on himself, and lies down on the counter. His tongue sticks out, and he crosses his eyes inward.

My eyes widen. "You're going to pretend to be sick?"

Sitting up and uncrossing his eyes, he turns to me and nods.

"Well, that's not-oh, what the heck. It's brilliant. I'll just tell Em that I'll be back in twenty minutes so I can care for you and everything. It all works out great."

Perry, for the first time today, smiles at me, gives me a thumb up, and then lies back down on his side. Within one second, he's looking sick again.

Lifting him up, I carry him out to the living room, where Em has clearly patiently been waiting. At the sight of us, her face brightens, but then transforms into a look of horror. "Oh my…goodness," she finishes, covering her mouth. "Perry looks awful."

Kiki gives me a confused look, but I decide not to bother with responding. I've talked way too much today for my taste. _Way _too much.

But not to my girlfriend. "Yes," I reply in response to Emily's comment, glancing down at the so-called 'sick' Perry. "Yes he does."

"Are you going to have to go home?" she wonders. She bites her lip. "If so, then-"

"Just for a little while," I assure her as I awkwardly pat Perry's back. Now he's pretending to cough, and I'm struggling not to grimace. "Maybe twenty minutes."

Emily sighs. "Well…all right. But get back soon. We're already somewhat behind on this. Isabella just texted me and said that she and Milly were halfway done with theirs, as were Vienna and Buford."

"No problem," I inform her. "Phineas is home now, so he'll be able to look after Perry. All is well."

About five minutes of endless conversation later, the both of us finally make it out of the door and start crossing the street. After checking to make sure no one is watching, the platypus leaps out of my grip and lands on the sidewalk, throwing the fedora on his head for the third time today in the process. He gestures for me to walk over and be closer to him, and when I oblige, he jumps up once again and crashes down, making the square on the sidewalk that we're on flip over.

I can't help but wonder just how many of these crazy lair entrances he has.

Twenty seconds later, we fall down on top of the chair in front of his giant screen, me luckily landing first. Wearily, we glance up at the monitor, where Major Monogram is staring at us with a deadpan expression. "You're late," he informs us, crossing his arms.

"Well, sir, they _did_ go through a lot of trouble to get here," Carl says from off screen. I can hear the rustling of some papers and the clearing of the twenty-something year old's throat. "According to this video screen footage, Ferb came from his girlfriend's house over to the front of his."

Major Monogram blinks. "That's…right across the street." He glances down at me. "Right?" Before I can get a chance to respond, he doesn't let me and instead continues to talk. "But anyway, it doesn't matter. Let's get down to business."

Good, considering I'm wasting my time coming down here to get to business.

"So first, let's talk about the basics. Ferb, you have told no one of Agent P's secret? Not Phineas, Emily, Isabella, or anyone that should know nothing of the agency?"

I shake my head no.

"Good." The old man sighs. "I don't always get that answer. Anyway, next question. You haven't been _compelled _to tell anyone?"

I shrug. Why does it really matter? If I didn't tell anyone, which I _didn't_, then it doesn't matter, like I just said.

Monogram narrows his eyes. "I certainly hope not," he threatens. "I don't want to have to regret letting you do this."

It takes all of my strength not to roll my eyes right there on the spot.

"Sir, you're being too harsh with him," Carl defends me. He appears on the camera screen now, peering at me and adjusting his wide purple glasses. "Ferb's made it pretty clear that he's been silent about it."

_Thank you, Carl._

But Monogram just brushes him off. "Do this how we rehearsed it," he snaps, and the unpaid intern hurries back behind the camera. "Or else you'll _always _stay an unpaid intern."

"But-"

"Anyway, so last question. You know nothing about who Agent P fights on a day-to-day basis?"

Perry sighs next to me, and Monogram must hear it, because he turns towards him and frowns. "Is there something here I don't know about? Because if there is-"

"NO," I say loudly. This clearly startles him, because he jumps back a few inches and stares at me. So I continue. "I don't know _anything _about _anything _that Perry does, nor do I care until my memory of all of this gets erased. So I can I _please _leave now?" I cross my arms over my chest and glare up at him, waiting for a response.

Major Monogram blinks. He still looks stunned by my outburst and how rude I just was. But I really don't care. "Um…yes, of course, Ferb. Agent P, please accompany him out of your lair.

Perry nods, jumps out of his seat, and grabs my hand, pulling me out of the room. I don't look back, afraid of feeling more of my anger over all of this arise out of me and explode.

* * *

As Ferb and Perry disappeared from the screen, the greenhead looking unbelievably irritated, the old man sighed and glanced over the camera lens at Carl, weary expression on his face. "And to think I thought Phineas was worse," he muttered, rubbing his forehead with one of his hands. "Carl, please tell me that the memory eraser is almost finished."

"Not for a little while, sir," the intern informed him as he glanced at the machine that controlled all of the memory erasers in every lair. "I can't figure out what's wrong with it. All of the parts are screwed in tightly and are in the right places, and the battery is full and will be for another one hundred years or so." He shrugged. "It will take me a while."

"Well, devote most of your time to it. Sooner or later Ferb is going to know too much about the agency if we don't get it working," Monogram informed him. He then glanced down at himself and sighed. "You know, I really should start wearing pants for when I'm consulting the agents, just in case."

"You should," Carl agreed. "You know, mine are stretchy and very comfortable. Do you want to know where I buy them-"

"I really, _really _don't."

**Next Chapter Preview: Vienna and Adyson chat on the phone for a little while. The Thompson family has dinner, where some things are revealed.**

* * *

**Yes, now I've added the time to the whole beginning sequence. I figure that will help you picture the scene outside or whatever better.**

**By the way, I'm glad I got to get some more of Emily in here. She's kind of been absent this whole story, compared to Circle of Love. Kiki, too, and just so you guys know, I don't ship her and Perry together. Why, you may ask? Because Dan and Swampy made it clear in one of their interviews that Perry would never have a girlfriend. So I respect that and only keep them as friends/rivals. It's more fun to write them that way, anyway. XD**


	17. Vienna Feels Conflicted

_**Sunday, November 12, 6:13 PM**_

_**The Thompson Residence**_

_**Vienna**_

When I pick up my cell phone, the first thing I hear on the other end is a sigh. And this isn't any sigh. This is a long, dreadful sigh, the kind you only hear when the person isn't only just annoyed. It's the kind where the person is obviously in a depressed mood.

I know without even looking at the caller ID that it's Adyson. "What's wrong?" I ask, knowing that she'll never come out and say it without me asking first.

She doesn't respond for a few seconds, but when that time passes, she breathes out another sigh. "It's Django," she replies. Her voice sounds tight, like she wants to cry but won't let herself do so. "I've tried calling him for like a while, and he hasn't answered. What if he's avoiding me? What if he's changed his mind on what he thinks of me being…" She hesitates for a few seconds before continuing. "Pregnant?"

I snort. "Adyson, he's not that kind of guy," I inform her. Keeping the cell phone on me, I get up from my bed and walk back over to my studio, where I just recorded another cover of a song a few minutes earlier, one from A Chorus Line. "He and I might not be on good terms anymore ever since we broke up, but I know for a fact that he wouldn't hurt you like that."

I can almost picture her rolling her green eyes when she responds. "How would you know that? You're not going through something the way I am. _You're _not having some random dude that's not your boyfriend's kid in seven months."

I bite my lip. This conversation _really_ isn't going well. So I decide that I need to steer it away from the topic of Django and onto something much more important. "You know what worries _me_?" I tell her. When she says nothing, I continue. "The fact that you've barely acknowledged the presence of the actual baby and are putting the attention on yours and Django's relationship. We're talking an actual _child _here, Ad."

My best friend since we were Fireside Girls together says nothing. However, I can hear her nervously chewing on something, pretzels perhaps, or, more likely, her fingernails.

"I'm serious, Adyson," I insist as I adjust the microphone attached to the stand. "You still haven't told your mom, right?"

She takes a shuddery breath, but still doesn't say anything.

"I know you haven't. But Adyson, you _have _to. Whether or not she's okay with it, she needs to know. Like you've said, eventually, you're going to look like a watermelon, and there will be nothing you can do about it. Does your stomach look _any _different than it did at the beginning of September?"

"Um…" She pauses, likely to check, and then continues, still sounding scared. "Sort of. It's definitely not what you would, um, call flat."

Even through my soundproof studio walls, the door to it is still open, so I can hear Mom yelling at me to come down for dinner. Now it's my turn to sigh. "Well, tell her soon, okay? I have to go eat."

"Whatever."

Her tone of voice sounds all clogged up. I absolutely hate leaving the conversation on that note, but really, the last thing one wants to do is make my mother mad. For example, if I stay in the studio recording a song too long and I don't hear her call me down or something, she'll get unbelievably ticked off. I mean, I suppose it's good practice for me for the bossy directors on Broadway, but still. You would think she would be a bit more considerate.

Shrugging, I hang up, carefully place the cell phone on my dresser, and walk out of my bedroom down the stairs and to the dining room, where my mom, as usual, has made roast beef look a lot better than it actually is. She's standing there at the table with her pot of corn or whatever. She looks up when hearing my footsteps, an amused look crossing her face. "Well, you actually made it here on time," she tells me sarcastically as she sets the bowl down. "That's a first."

I roll my eyes and take the seat closer to my dad than to her.

"Now, Tori," he scolds my mom in a joking manner as he reaches over for the corn. "Vienna's not _always _late." He winks at me, and I shoot him a grateful smile.

"Whatever." Mom brushes his comment off and looks at me. "So, Vienna. I assume you've applied to all of the _important _universities by now? Not any of your performing arts schools or any of that?"

"Mom." I place my fork down and glare at her. "You _know _I want to go to one of those in New York. I've _said _that, and those places are where I applied."

"But-" Mom begins to protest, but my dad stops her.

"Uh-uh." He shakes his head. "Tori, we've talked about this. Yes, Vienna has the grades and the skill to go into the medical business or something along those lines, but it's not what she wants to do."

As you can see, my dad is totally okay with what I love doing, unlike my mom. She claims that performers don't have successful futures. Um, hello? Does she have _any _idea what their paychecks are?

But all she does whenever we talk about college is sigh, look away, fidget with something, etcetera. It's obvious that I'm not the daughter she originally planned on having. Mom wouldn't even let me sing a lullaby at bedtime when I was little, claiming that she hated music and wanted nothing to do with it. Which is strange, since she let my dad name me after a song by Billy Joel. I guess some things in life just aren't supposed to make sense.

Anyway, so back at the dinner table, Mom has said nothing in reply to my father and is instead now looking at me, tight-lipped. It's clear that she's about to change the subject, and sure enough, she does. "So, V, how have your friends been?"

I shrug, grateful for the escape from the previous conversation. "Alright, I guess."

"Phineas and Ferb still make inventions?"

"Yeah, Mom. I was just over there this morning. They made giant pieces of origami in their backyard. It was _really _cool."

She chuckles. "Such imaginations, even as teenagers," she mutters when she thinks I can't hear. "Now what about Adyson? How's she doing?"

My heart sinks, and I can't help but drop my fork onto the floor and scramble to pick it up. "Um…she'sfineeverything'sokay," I say quickly.

Dad nods. "That's cool," he says obliviously through his roast beef. Mom glares at him, and he covers his mouth, face turning slightly red. She then turns to me and raises an eyebrow. "She sure doesn't _sound _fine. What happened? Are she and Django doing okay?"

"God, Mom, you're so nosy," I groan, picking at the bottom of my top and wiping my hands on my skirt. Unfortunately, I've started to sweat, and it shows. "She's _fine_, okay? Jesus."

"Vienna Hope, we do _not _say the Lord's name in vain in this house."

"I _wasn't-_"

"Okay, okay." My dad is now standing up at the head of the table, and we both quiet down. He's usually the one to break up our frequent fights, and always has been ever since I was in preschool. "That's enough. Tori, Vienna has a point; you were being nosy." He then turns to me after my mom rolls her eyes again. "And V, you know that you're not supposed to swear in this house."

"Whatever," I grumble, sinking down into my chair.

My father then nods in approval. "All right. So all's well. Now how about some more of the-"

"I wasn't finished, Robert," my mom snaps, and he gives her a confused look, but doesn't reply. Mom can get scary when she takes over. "Vienna Thompson, tell me what's wrong with Adyson _right now_. Don't act like nothing bad is happening."

"It's _not_, Mom, sheesh-"

"No. No, no, no." Now she's up in my face, and her icy blue eyes make the situation all the more intimidating. I'm trying to avoid looking inside of them, but she's not letting me move out of her grip. "I saw the look on your face when I asked about her. Something's wrong, Vienna. Something a grown-up should know about-"

"Tori, _stop_," my dad interrupts. His frown couldn't possibly be bolder at the moment. "Vienna said everything was okay. Let's just take that for granted and enjoy our dinner, okay?" He looks longingly down at his plate. "The roast beef's getting cold-"

"Fine. You win, _Mother_," I interject, standing up at my place. Both parents blink at me in surprise and then look at each other. "Something…_really _bad is happening to Adyson, and now the whole school has found out. Her family doesn't know, though, and she doesn't know how to tell them."

Mom stares at me. Clearly, she's surprised that I actually gave in to one of her arguments for once. "So…what is it that she tried to keep from everyone?"

I take a deep breath. I know that I'm about to betray my best friend by saying this, but I know that someone older than us was going to find out eventually, anyway, even if it wasn't me who told them. "It's a long story, and I don't remember half of what she told me, but basically, she met a guy and his friends at the bar and pub in town-"

"The one I take you to every Friday and Saturday for live entertainment?" my dad interrupts. Mom scowls.

"Yes, that one," I elucidate. "So, continuing, the guy took her back to his apartment, and he tricked her into thinking beer was apple juice."

"Apple… juice?" Mom echoes. She's now looking confused. "Where is all of this _leading_ to?"

"You'll see. So the guy got her drunk, and then made her…get serious with him. You get where I'm drifting?"

Dad turns pale. "They had-"

"Don't say the word. I'm _still _horrified by the talk _you_ had to give me because Mom was too chicken to do it herself, " I threaten, finger pointing at him, and he nods repeatedly.

"No problem, hon." He was just as horrified as I was at that time period.

Mom, meanwhile, has just been staring at me in shock during the entire last minute. "He didn't get her…pregnant, did he?"

I blink back tears and stare at the floor before nodding slowly. Her hand claps over her mouth, and she and my dad look at each other for about a full minute before my dad bites his lip. "Um…I'll see you both tomorrow," Dad awkwardly informs us, pushing back his chair and picking up his plate. "We're entering uncomfortable territory for me."

"Robert, come on." Mom crosses her arms, but even that doesn't stop him as he quickly places the dishes on the counter and dashes upstairs, likely to watch Sunday Night Football or something.

Mom sighs and pushes back her hair with her hand. "Well, so much for _that_," she says flatly. She then returns her attention to me, unfortunately, and I squirm uncomfortably in my seat as she begins to speak.

"So how far along is she?" she wonders.

I hesitate before answering. "…Two."

My mother frowns. "And she still hasn't told Marianne?" That's Adyson's mom, in case you didn't know. I shake my head, and her frown only turns deeper.

"She _is _aware that she's not going to be flat much longer, right?" Before I can respond, she continues. "Does she even know if she's keeping it yet?"

Once again, I shake my head. I feel like a bobblehead, only my head keeps going left to right instead of up and down. "She hasn't said one word about adoption, or keeping it, or anything, since she doesn't believe in abortion." I sigh and avoid my mom's gaze. "All she's been thinking of is her relationship with Django. He's been avoiding her recently, even though he said he was okay with her being pregnant."

Mom rolls her eyes. "Teenagers," she mutters. "Always getting into trouble. But that doesn't matter at this point in time. I just can't understand what's taking Adyson so long to say anything. And you claim the _whole _school knows?"

I shrug. "Just the students," I clarify. "And our cheerleading coach. But I'm sure some of the faculty knows, too. Someone found out about Adyson and posted it on the school website, and we still can't figure out who did it."

Mom scratches her head. It's what she does when she can't really think of anything to say at the moment. "Well…" she hesitates. "I'm not her mom, so I can't really do anything about it. But I _can_ do one thing." When I lean forward in my chair for dramatic effect, she narrows her eyes. "I can tell Marianne myself."

My eyes widen. Is she kidding? "Mom. You wouldn't."

"Oh, but I would." Before I can protest, she holds up her hand. "Uh-uh. I'm not finished. Tell Adyson that I give her until Thanksgiving, which is in twelve days, to tell her mom what's been going on. After that, I'm saying something. Got it?"

I gulp. Adyson's going to _kill _me when she finds out about this. But there's clearly nothing I can do. When my mom says she's going to do something, she will do it.

So there's nothing else I can do but nod weakly, in which she nods in approval and stands up. "I'm going to go speak to your father. You finish your dinner." With that said, she exits the room swiftly.

When I'm sure she's out of my hearing range, I push my plate away, bang my head on the table repeatedly, groaning every single time the two things make contact with each other.

It looks like I've only made Adyson's problem worse, and it could possibly end our friendship if I'm not careful. Thanks a lot, Mom. Thanks a_ lot_.

**Next Chapter Preview: Lilly returns to Danville High. What will the typical school day be like for her from now on?**

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**Oh man. Looks like Ad's in trouble. _Really _big trouble. **

**And as you can see, Vienna and her mom don't have the best relationship. This will be covered again later, no worries. By the way, what's your opinion of V's mom? I haven't developed her much yet, but there's a reason she doesn't like music and what Vienna wants to do with her future. That, also, will be revealed later.**


	18. Lilly and the Annoying Teddy

_**Monday, November 13, 7:13 AM**_

_**Danville High School**_

_**Lilly**_

There's a girl here who stands out from everyone else. Why, you may ask? Because this girl, unlike everyone else, is sitting down in a wheelchair, an object that only old people are supposed to have when their backs break, in her opinion. Other students are staring at her and whispering as they get their supplies for the school day out of their lockers. There's really no reason for them to whisper, but since this girl was walking perfectly fine just two months before, it probably _does _make sense.

Unless you're an idiot, you've most likely figured out that this girl is me. That's right: Lillian Carlson is back in the school building after God knows how long, technically a month.

Let me tell you one thing: I was _so _sick of living in that hospital that I decided that I wanted out of there. It wasn't easy.

"_Please?" I ask Nurse Anna, who is examining her clipboard as usual and chewing her pen. Little marks are starting to appear on her lips, and it's starting to look _really _gross._

_Unfortunately, she shakes her head, still not looking up at me. "Sorry, Lilly, no can do." _

"_Why?" I'm beginning to sound like a three-year old that's whining about not getting a toy at Wal-Mart, but I don't care. "I can control the wheelchair now. See?" I begin to spin it. "One, two, three, four-"_

"_Enough," Nurse Anna groans. She places the clipboard on the counter, turns to me, and frowns. Her lips are now almost completely blue. I consider saying something to her, but then change my mind. "You need about two more weeks worth of examining before we can be sure you're ready to leave here."_

_It takes all of my strength not to drop the f-bomb on her or even worse than that, if possible. Instead, I just bite my lip. "Oh."_

_It's at that moment when the actual doctor comes into the room, face flushed. His eyes are drooping a little bit. You can tell that this guy hardly ever gets any sleep. "Good afternoon, Lilly," he greets me the best that he can._

_I grunt, and he raises an eyebrow. _

"_She claims that she wants to go home," Nurse Anna informs him with a deadpan tone. She glares at me, and I pretend not to notice it as the doctor leans down to examine me closer. "I told her that no, she could not, seeing as she isn't supposed to for another two weeks."_

"_Now, now, hold on, Anna," the doctor interjects. He stands up and places a hand underneath his chin. "That date was when we estimated that Miss Carlson would be strong enough to return to her place of residence. However…" He sits on one knee again, reaches over, and grabs my knee, twisting it. Not that I'm able to feel it. "She has shown great progress. Most of the patients that contact this type of situation refuse to do anything about it. It can take them months to even get in the wheelchair. Lilly, on the other hand, got into it as soon as she awoke from consciousness a month ago."_

_The nurse frowns. "But-"_

"_I'm not finished." The doctor frowns at her, and she shuts up. He once again gets back up and looks down at me, nodding his head slowly. "It's true that Lilly could use a little more physical therapy. However, it's basically just stretches that she could easily do elsewhere."_

"_And they're not hard," I pipe in. "I'm sure I can get my brother Grant or one of my friends to help me if I have any problems. No offense, but I just want out of here."_

_The doctor smiles. "Well, of course you do," he says. "You're been here for over a month. It's completely understandable."_

"_So…am I okay to go?" I ask eagerly. No more hospital food from the café downstairs! No more chatting with random people in a weird chat room since that was the only website that worked! No more…um…of anything here!_

_Much to my happiness, he nods. "Just give us another day to get all of your records and everything like that. You'll be free to go tomorrow."_

So that's how I'm back in school now two weeks before I was supposed to be. I never thought I would be happy to be back here, but I am. It's good to see all of the people I like and the people I hate.

Speaking of people I like, I spot Phineas and Isabella chatting by the former's locker and wheel over to them. Since it's still pretty early, not many students are here yet, so it's simple for me to navigate through the ones that _are _here to get to my destination. "Hi," I greet them.

They stop their conversation and look down at me. Both sets of eyes instantly light up, and Isabella squeals before leaning down and hugging me. "Oh my gosh. Lilly, you're back!" she exclaims, and I can't help but laugh.

"Yep."

Phineas grins down at me. It's a little weird to looking up at him when_ I_ used to be the one to look down at _him_. He's not that tall for a teenaged guy. "So are you doing alright with your wheelchair?" he wonders. "Because Ferb and I could easily make it better for you. We could add rockets to the wheels or something."

I shoot him a small smile and shake my head. "No thanks, Phin. But thanks for asking."

He sighs. "Oh, all right." He adjusts his backpack strap. "We've just kind of been running out of ideas lately. We _have _been inventing for eight years or so."

"And all your ideas have always been fantastic," Isabella reminds him. "And they always will be."

Phineas shrugs. "I sure hope so. It's not like we have much time left before college." He then turns his attention back to me. "So how come you're here so early, Lilly? Weren't you supposed to be here in a few weeks or so?"

I nod. "Yeah. But they let me out early."

He grins. "That's great!"

"Yeah," I agree. I begin to wheel my chair to the other direction. "Sorry guys, but I have to make my way to the office. The principal wants to talk with me, for some reason." I make a face. "This had better be good."

Isabella and Phineas both look glum. "Oh, okay," Isabella says. "Hopefully you'll be okay."

I shrug. "Let's hope, right? See you guys." I turn all the way around and begin to make my way down the hallway for the second time, able to avoid the stares, points, and giggles from fellow students.

Trust me. I've been through far worse things than getting laughed at.

* * *

"So, Lillian Carlson. You're back."

These are the first words I hear when I wheel myself into the principal's office. He has a name, but I've just never bothered to learn it. I think it starts with a B.

"Yes," I inform him, doing my best to sit up straight in my chair, at least the best to my ability. "Yes, I am."

He looks up from his computer, of which he had been typing on, sighs, and finally turns to me. "I don't believe we've ever had a formal conversation before. So let me introduce myself before we get too comfortable. I'm Principal Bear."

I have to struggle not to laugh like a lunatic when he reaches out over his desk, grabs my hand, and shakes it. _Principal Bear? _Oh my God, that's awful. So awful. I'm going to have to call him Teddy from now on.

"Um…nice to meet you," I manage to reply after he releases me.

He leans back in his chair and adjusts his glasses, which were beginning to slip off of his nose. "Nice to meet you too, Lillian."

"Please," I interject, now feeling uneasy for some reason. This guy is beginning to intimidate me, and I can't really figure out why. "Call me Lilly."

Teddy nods. "Lilly it is, then."

"So, um…why did you want to meet with me?" I ask him. I'm starting to want to get out of this place and just get to my first class, and Teddy isn't making that easy for me to do quickly.

All of a sudden, Teddy frowns slightly. You can tell that he's trying to appear serious by the way his eyebrows are furrowing and the way his eyes keep staring at me intently. I try to squirm in my chair, but then I remember that I can't _do _that. Ugh. "Well…" he hesitates before continuing. "You are aware of the fact that you've missed quite a lot of school recently, correct?"

Is he joking? I'm about to shoot him a sarcastic remark before he moves on, not letting me respond. "Don't answer that. That was kind of…a dumb question."

Gee. You think?

"How long would you say you've been gone? About…a month?"

I seriously think this guy is an idiot. Honestly, I don't think I've ever hated someone so quickly before. "Yes. A little more than that."

Teddy bites his lip, stroking his little mustache with his finger. "Well, Lillian," he begins, obviously forgetting my nickname because he's an idiot. "That means that you have missed a month of schoolwork."

Gasp! Because I've been gone for a month, that means I've missed a month of schoolwork? Oh my God! I _never_ would have guessed.

Luckily, I don't use any of my sarcasm out loud the way I normally would and instead just nod swiftly. I'd rather not get into any trouble my first day back because I don't want to regret coming here early.

The principal frowns and examines some of the papers sitting in front of him absentmindedly. There are lists of people who have detention, people who have their warnings they get _before _getting detention, and those who need tutoring after school. By glancing at them, I notice that I'm on the last one. And the first, but I don't really care about the first one right now.

"Hey," I interject, frown on my face, and Teddy's head instantly snaps up.

"What is it, Lillian?" he wonders, straightening his glasses again. He really needs to go out and buy new ones. Or at least get a pair that fit on his frickin' _face_, if that's at all possible.

I jam my finger down onto the paper. "This," I clarify, and he picks the paper up and starts to read it as I continue. "Since when do _I _need tutoring? I'm a straight-C student! That's average, you know."

Teddy rolls his eyes as he lets the paper fall onto his desk. "Yes, Lillian, I know that. You _should _be working harder in school, anyway." Before I have a chance to protest, he cuts me off. "But anyway, this is why I called you in. Since you missed so much material in your classes, you're going to have to make it up somehow. And what better way to do it than get tutoring?"

I can think of a better way to do it. Not do it at all, that's what.

Teddy glances down at his random lists on his desk, eyes searching until they finally land on one certain one. Grabbing it, he holds it out to me, and I hesitantly take it as he begins to speak again. "Here is a list of the people who signed up for our tutoring program earlier this year. You can select one."

I scan the list, but I don't recognize any of the names, unfortunately. "You pick," I inform him, sliding the list right across the desk again. "I don't know any of these people."

He blinks at me. "Well…all right." He clears his throat. "I guess I'll assign you to Darren. He's a fellow senior, and quite intelligent, if I do say so myself. I'll have him come up to you within the next month or so. Meanwhile, I'll give you his phone number." He scribbles it down on a scrap of paper, and he hands it to me. I shove it inside of my pocket without a second thought.

"So…" After an awkward silence, he clears his throat again. "I suppose you should head to class, Miss Carlson."

"Sounds like it. Bye, Ted-uh, Principal Bear." I still cannot believe that's an actual name.

Before he can respond with another stupid comment, I turn around and wheel myself out of the room and into the now overcrowded hallway.

Even though I can't do my diva walks anymore, at least I can still wheel myself out of a room in a diva-like manner. That's a very good thing, seeing as with all the stupid people around me, I'll have to do it often.

**Next Chapter Preview: Savannah gets some surprising news from her mom about their future.**

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**Not really much to say. I think the whole chapter was pretty self-explanatory, honestly.**

**Oh, wait, I _do _have something to say. I'm going to start making a different poll every week relating to this story or any other upcoming projects. Make sure to answer them if you can. I really appreciate any feedback this story gets!**


	19. Savannah's Shocking Dinner

_**Wednesday, November 15, 2:47 PM**_

_**Danville High School Hallway**_

_**Savannah**_

"So…_what's_ happening?"

I glance over at Katie as I adjust the strap on my backpack. I was too lazy to apply for a locker this year, so I just have to carry the dang thing around all the time. At least it gives me some extra time between classes that I would normally have to go to the locker.

Although it doesn't really matter, since it's the end of the day. And since Katie and I take the same bus, I'm at another locker anyway. Hers.

I shrug in response to her inquiry. "No clue," I inform her as she spins the dial and tugs the century-old thing open. I watch as she takes her backpack out, not being able to help but notice that one of her pictures has only Phineas, who happened to be her old crush (not that I care), in it. "Mom just told me she was going to take me out and then tell me something or other. It's weird, honestly, since we haven't been out doing something in public for like a year."

Katie nods, but I can't tell if she's really listening since she's texting someone at the same time. Normally, I hate it when people do that, but since this is Katie we're talking about, I'll let it slide for once. She then tucks the phone away in the pocket of her skirt and slams the locker door. "Well, that's interesting," she replies, jiggling the locker to be sure it's completely shut.

Guess she _was _listening. "Yeah, I guess so." I try to avoid looking at Ginger Hirano, my ex-best friend, as we both exit the school building and head for the bus. Currently, she and Isabella Garcia-Shapiro are laughing about something as they look at Ginger's cell phone. Don't know why Isabella's friends with someone like her if she's not like her at _all_, but whatever. I've never understood girls my age.

Katie and I climb onto the bus and take our usual seat near the front. It keeps us away from all the loud, noisy kids in the back, and plus, it lets us hear other people a hell of a lot better. "So…where are you going?" she continues, looking out to see if any of our other friends are outside. Phineas, Ferb, Emily, and Baljeet have joined Isabella and Ginger, and that's it. Lilly doesn't take the bus anymore for obvious reasons, and Vienna and Django just drive home themselves now. Honestly, I don't know why more people don't do that. And you would think Phineas and Ferb would have developed some high-speed rocket or something to get us back home.

"Probably some restaurant or something." I shrug. "I'll be shocked if it's something better than that crap from McDonald's."

My friend laughs, but then it instantly changes into a moan. Curious to see why that is, I glance in her direction and contort my facial muscles into a grimace. Phineas, Isabella, Ferb, and Emily have broken off of the conversation and are walking to the bus, but that's not what's disgusting me.

Baljeet and Ginger are making out. In front of the whole effing school. When there are _adults _around. And fellow students that want to vomit. This happens pretty much every day, so I shouldn't be grossed out, but I still am.

"Honestly." Katie rolls her eyes and grabs a pack of Cheez-its out of her bag, offering some to me. I take some and start munching as she continues. "To think I was ever friends with Ginger."

"Seriously," I agree, making my own hazel eyes go heavenward and turning my head away, swallowing the snack. "She changed a lot in middle school, but for some reason, I still stayed friends with her. I'm shocked that Baljeet hasn't changed a lot as well since the two of them hooked up last spring."

The blond shrugs as our other friends climb on and take seats nearby us. They have their own conversation amongst themselves, Ferb being nearly mute as usual, so Katie and I lean back in our seats and stay quiet. As she pulls out her cell phone again and looks at it, I turn my head towards the window and stare out of it, thinking about what's supposed to happen tonight. The fact that I don't know where the hell Mom and I are going just ticks me off. Though I can't really figure out why.

* * *

_**6:17 PM**_

_**Some Random Restaurant Savannah's Never Heard Of**_

"Right this way," the hostess tells us, picking up two menus.

My eyebrow still raised, I glance over at my mom, who doesn't look back at me. Instead, she stares straight ahead at the girl leading us to a booth by the windows, as if the girl in question was swinging back and forth and hypnotizing her.

When we finally get seated, the hostess adjusts her ponytail and sighs. It's pretty clear that it was not her decision to be working here. Either that or she just has a really sucky life. "Your waiter will be with you shortly," she informs us in a deadpan tone. She then hurries back to her podium thing, leaving my mom and I just standing there. We then awkwardly sit down.

"Okay," I say before Mom can even get comfortable. "Cut the crap, Mom. _Why _are we here?"

Barely acknowledging my existence, she picks up the menu and scans it with her eyes. However, I can tell by the look on her face that she's not really reading it.

"Mom. Come on. You didn't bring us here for no reason."

She stays quiet for a few more seconds, and I'm just about to lose it with impatience before she finally sighs and glances up from her menu. "Fine." She then folds the menu up and looks straight into my eyes. Hers are hazel like mine, but have more of a brown-like atmosphere in them. Mine fall under the green category. "I'll tell you why we're here." Mom stays quiet as the waiter comes by and asks us for our drinks, but as soon as he leaves, she continues. "It has to do with me."

I raise an eyebrow. "What _about _you?"

"My work," she explains. She shuffles a little in her seat when she thinks I'm not looking. "I'm not going to work at the library anymore." When my jaw slacks, she quickly backtracks. "But that's because I have a new job."

I breathe a sigh of relief and hold my hand to my chest. "Oh, thank God."

"But here's the catch." When I look at her curiously, she bites her lip. "It'll be my own business, and it's not exactly a…_business_."

Wait. What?

"Let me explain," she says when she sees the expression on my face. After the waiter brings us our drinks and takes our orders (we both just ordered pasta since neither of us had really looked at the menu), she begins to do just that. "So basically, what happened was that your father contacted me."

My fists clench. "You still _talk _to him?" I cannot believe her. But before I can get up and storm out of that restaurant in a huff, she replies.

"Yeah. But Sav, listen to me. He said he was truly sorry for what he did to us, and that it was completely wrong in every way possible."

I snort. Sure, he's sorry. Sorry for making us homeless and having us live in a damn shelter for six and a half months.

"So-"

"Don't you _dare _say he's coming back," I threaten. I lean back in my seat and cross my arms, glaring at my mom. If she says yes…I don't what I'm going to do. I never want to see that bastard I used to call my dad again.

Luckily, she shakes her head. Otherwise, I would have exploded. "No. He's not. However…he did give us money from work."

I perk up. Money?

"And…to put it in simple terms, it was a lot." She then informs me of the exact amount, and my eyes grow wide.

"He… made that much just from leaving us alone to go work?" I don't know whether to be upset or ecstatic.

She sighs. "Yes…and then some. He's living in some Asian country now, Japan or Singapore or something of the sort. I wasn't really listening after he told me about the dough." Before I can fully process what she's just told me, she bites her lip again. She's going to have to go out and buy Chapstick at this rate.

"Okay…so are we celebrating or something?" I gesture around us at the dirty tables. I don't think the people that work here even bother to clean them. "Because this really wasn't the best place to do so if that was your intention."

Mom glowers at me over her soda. "Savannah Charlotte."

"Sorry." I don't really mean it.

The waiter brings us our food then, and we take the next five minutes or so to chew on our pasta. It's actually not that bad. Definitely better than the kinds Mom tries to make once in a while on our century-old oven. It's a miracle that the apartment hasn't come up in flames yet and burned the whole building down.

Unfortunately, after that amount of time passes, Mom decides that we should start talking again. "Savannah…I wasn't exactly finished at talking about my new job."

I shrug and eat more of the pasta, not really caring.

"Savannah. Listen to me." Now she's frowning.

"All right, all right," I groan, wiping my face with the napkin. "What's so utterly important? This pasta's really good-"

"I'm aware of that," she interrupts. "But I need to tell you this next thing about my work. It…will involve you."

A record scratches out of nowhere, and I give her my most confused look. "What-"

"It's hard to explain," she hurriedly interrupts once again. "But basically…it will be a kind of exchange program."

"Exchange…program…?" I echo. I _really _do not understand what she's saying.

Mom sighs and straightens up in her seat. "My job, the one that developed because of your father's money, sends a kid from one place to another place. A person from the place that that kid went to will then come here as well. It gives the kids sort of a fresh experience. And it only happens for those that will not be busy during the summer, obviously."

I'm still looking at her strangely.

"Savannah…" She hesitates, and then continues. "You'll be participating in my new program during the summer."

My eyes widen. _What?_

"I know I probably should have consulted with you first before springing you on it so fast, but…" Mom looks away and takes another nibble of pasta. "Since you're not going to college, I figure it will be good for you."

Anger begins to rise up inside of me. I'll have one last summer of fun before everyone else goes off to college, and where do I have to spend it? In some person's home that I don't even know. But before I can protest, she raises her palm. "I'm not done. You'll be there for all but the last two weeks. You'll still have time to spend with your friends."

"Not _much_," I reply, my fists clenching so I don't go and start randomly hitting things. One unfortunate thing I inherited from my dad was to get physical when angry. Either that, or it's to insult people better than Lilly and Adyson can. "Two weeks? Mom, that's _ridiculous_."

She stares at me, face contorting into a frown. "Savannah Charlotte Schumacher, it's one summer, and since you're not going to college, it's not like you'll never see your friends again-"

"Mom. That's the _point _of me being all pissed off about this. People don't always go at the tail end of summer. By the time I get back, half of us are gonna be gone!"

"Like who?" She crosses her arms.

"Like…" I think for a few seconds before continuing. "Irving. He said on Facebook that he was taking the year off to 'go travel to places'."

She raises an eyebrow. "He doesn't want to stalk Phineas and Ferb in the summer?" Yes, even the adults in town know about the guy's weird obsession with them.

"Apparently not. And Baljeet's already been accepted to Yale, for crying out loud. Almost everyone's sent in their applications and everything. Who _knows_ when they're leaving? Really, only Aubrey and I are going to be the only ones left in Danville, unless someone goes to Danville U." I look straight into her eyes, similar to the way Mom did to me when we first started this conversation. "I just want to be able to hang out with them for one last summer of Phineas and Ferb's inventions. Please. It's always the best time of the year."

Mom looks at me, and I can't tell if the expression on her face is genuine or not, but she now looks downcast. "Savannah, I'm sorry, but that's not possible."

I give her a 'are you serious' look and throw my hands up into the air, not caring that people are beginning to stare at us. We're getting a little loud now. "Why not?" I just gave her that whole long speech and everything, and now she's saying it's not _possible_?

And that's when she says the words that I _really _did not want to hear.

"Because…I already signed you up for the program."

**Next Chapter Preview: Lilly befriends someone she already knows, but it may be surprising as to who it is. Or maybe it won't be. You'll decide.**

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**Holy fudge, I am _really _sorry this chapter took so much longer than usual when it wasn't even that good compared to some of the others. But hey, at least we now get some focus on someone that hasn't _gotten_ a ton of focus in this story.**

**Speaking of getting some focus…how would you guys feel if after this story was completed (which is a _long _time away…I don't think we're even halfway through yet), I would write a story specifically from Savannah's point of view about the summer she's in the exchange program? Would you even read it? I just figure it'll be interesting, but if you guys wouldn't read it, I just wouldn't want to bother writing it. So…yeah. What are your thoughts about it?**

**And _please _give me some feedback/criticism for this story, if you can. You have no idea how much I love it when I get it.**


	20. Katie Hates Hallways

_**Friday, November 17, 12:16 PM**_

_**Danville High School Hallway…Again**_

_**Katie**_

I hate these hallways.

I guess that's nothing exactly new. A lot of my other friends agree with me that the combination of being squished between people constantly and having to slow down when you're behind slow people is unbelievably annoying, but they don't know the other kind of hatred I feel for this setting.

The real reason I hate the hallways is because you can never get _through _anyone, really. It's all just blobs of color in between a random glimpse of a locker as you attempt to walk by people. Or, if you're in poor Lilly's case, attempt to wheel through people.

I'm over at my locker right now, and I'm watching her at her own locker. Since she's really tall, she obviously ended up with a top one when we were in our freshman year. It only made sense, since it's the way the school does it, the whole height thing. It's also why I have a top one, as well. Except now that doesn't really apply to her anymore, so she's clearly struggling to get her stuff out of there.

Finally, I can't take just staring at her anymore, so I slam my own locker shut after grabbing my lunch out of it. Lilly and I have the same lunch period, so it's not like I'll be missing any class time or anything by doing this. "Hey," I say tentatively when I approach her. I take a deep breath and wait anxiously for her response. She's not always the nicest person. After all, she _is _one of the most popular girls in school, being rich, blond, and a cheerleader. Or, should I say, _ex-_cheerleader.

Lilly glances up, obviously surprised that I'm even talking to her when I don't think we've ever said more than two words to each other at a time. "Um…hi," she replies, looking at me strangely. She then returns to throwing her stuff up into the locker and grabbing a bag of whatever out of it. Basically, she's now ignoring me.

I kind of awkwardly stand there for the next minute until finally deciding to continue. "So…um…uh…"

"Oh, gee, I'm sorry," she snaps, startling me. Her dark chocolate brown eyes roll heavenward. "Did you not learn how to speak English back when we were two? Were you raised by brainless people, and that's why you're just stammering and looking like an idiot?"

I wince. Gosh, that was pretty mean, since I barely even _said_ anything. Not that I'm surprised she said it. Lilly's well known here in Danville for coming up with the best insults for people. "Um…no, actually," I inform her, trying to stand up straighter and looking down at her in the eye. "I was _not _raised by monkeys. Were you?"

Her eyes widen. People don't normally talk back to her like that, and she knows it. "U-Um," she stutters. She then clears her throat and speaks more clearly. "No."

"Good." I smile down at her, and she uncomfortably looks away and returns her attention to the locker as I continue. "Then can we move on, and can I tell you why I came over here in the first place?"

Lilly finally slams her locker closed and shoves the bag of what is presumably her lunch under her wheelchair in a pocket-like thing. "Actually, yeah, I would appreciate that, _Katherine_. Thanks for wondering."

I choose to ignore her sarcasm and the fact that she called me by my full name. I usually hate when anyone does that. "It has to do with your locker," I inform her.

Lilly gives me a weird look, one that involves her eyebrow shooting up into the air. I've always wondered how people can do that, but I decide not to ask. "What _about _it?" she wonders, obviously annoyed with me now. She then begins to wheel herself down the hallway to the elevator leading to the downstairs cafeteria. Quickly, I must add. I'm struggling to keep up with her.

"It's just…I don't know," I finish lamely, panting. "It's just that…your locker seems really high for you-"

"Are you doubting that I can reach it?" she demands.

My eyes widen. "Um, no," I stammer. "It's just-"

"Don't lie to me, Kite-y." She tosses her blond hair over her shoulder, suddenly stopping right there in the middle of the hallway. Luckily not many people are around to listen to our conversation, because she seems to suddenly be ticked off over something. I doubt she would want anyone to see the look on her face right now."You're right. It _is _hard for me. But it doesn't matter how hard it is for me. Life's still fine."

I blink and stare at her in disbelief, even though she can't see it since she's facing the opposite direction away from me. "What do you mean?" I say indignantly. "How have you been so _strong_ throughout this whole recovery of yours after your accident? Do you know what _I _would have done had I been in your position? I can't even imagine giving up dancing. It's my _life_, and-"

"That's what you think," Lilly interrupts. She spins around to face me. "But it's not."

My brows furrow. "What are you-"

"I'm implying, Marquette, that you appear to think that if something bad happens to you, your whole life is over." She gestures to her wheelchair. "Well, just look at me. Obviously, it's not. I might not be able to dance or walk or, to put it in short terms, move my legs again, but am I still functioning? Hell yeah, I am. I'm still the bitch I've always been. That hasn't changed." Lilly then proceeds to give me a cold stare, one that has me uncomfortably looking away as she continues. "It's why I get all pissed off at anyone like you that doubts that I'm capable of doing simple things like using my damn locker. If it's hard, oh well. I can still do it, but just in a way that works for _me, _and only me."

Gosh. That was…some speech. One that had a lot of unnecessary language I don't like in it."Um…I'm sorry," I say lamely, shuffling my feet on the ground. "I-"

"Don't apologize." She waves her hand in the air. "You were just being an idiot and not considering my own feelings. Not an issue. I don't take crap from people, anyway."

I can't help but roll my eyes in a very Lilly-like fashion, and she chuckles. "That's the spirit," she says. She begins to wheel her wheelchair again, but not until taking a mirror out of a random pocket and checking her makeup, which, as always, looks good. "So is everyone supposed to be at lunch today?"

I shrug, gratefully taking the change in topic. "Dunno. I'm pretty sure I saw Savannah and Holly today, maybe Baljeet, too. I haven't seen Ferb or Phineas, though-"

"I'm right here," Phineas says, and I yelp as I turn around. Sure enough, he's standing there, holding hands with his girlfriend Isabella and giving me his signature grin. I feel myself begin to blush as he keeps on talking. "And Ferb is, too. You know how he doesn't get sick often."

"R-Right," I stutter, mentally slapping myself for doing so. I had made it clear to Isabella last year that I no longer liked Phineas. But if you couldn't tell already, that was a complete lie. I was just tired of her being mad at me for having a crush on her boyfriend, so..yeah.

Lilly isn't an idiot when it comes to who likes who. She's currently smirking at me, and I can feel my cheeks burn even more. Now all I have to do is hope that Isabella doesn't catch on as well. I'm not really worried about Phineas, since he's dumb as a rock at this stuff. Oh, and speaking of Isabella, what is _she _doing here?

I make myself look away from the redhead and put my attention onto the raven-haired head cheerleader of the senior squad. "Um…so how come you're here, Iz? It's not your lunch period or anything."

"Normally, I have Journalism class during this time," Isabella notifies me, and I nod slowly. "I'm writing an article about student views of the school lunches here, and I needed more opinions." She smiles at me. "So I got permission to come down for Phineas' lunch period to interview more students concerning this issue."

I rub the back of my head, careful not to make any stray hairs come out of my ponytail. "Um…okay. That makes sense, I guess."

Isabella nods. "Glad you think so."

Phineas has kind of just been standing there this whole time. "Um…we should probably get downstairs, Isabella," he tells her, squeezing her hand and making her blush slightly. "The line's probably long by now."

She once again nods, only this time, it's so quickly that she reminds me of a bobble head. "Yeah. Of course. That… makes complete sense." Before they can descend down the staircase, however, she once again turns to me. "You guys coming?"

I'm about to respond when Lilly cuts in. "I have to talk to Katie for a few seconds." She winks at me, and I feel my cheeks flame again.

"Um…okay." Isabella flashes us another smile, only this time, it looks fake, like the way those girls in beauty pageants smile for the judges. "Guess I'll see you guys in a few minutes." However, she's looking at me in a suspicious manner the whole time she and her boyfriend walk down the stairs towards the cafeteria.

As soon as both disappear out of sight and enter through the heavy doors to the cafeteria, Lilly bursts out into laughter. Her laugh is extremely loud, and honestly, I would be laughing at _it _if _it_ wasn't laughing at me right now. "Oh my God," she gasps, holding on to the sides of the wheelchair. "You turned so frickin' _red _when Phin started talking to you. Oh my _God_. That was so funny. I might seriously die here."

I cross my arms. "It wasn't funny," I grumble.

"Yes." She lets out another snort of giggles. "Yes, it was. I just can't believe it. You still like Phineas. Gosh. Isabella's gonna _flip _when she figures it out."

Nervously, I scan the hallway for anyone that might be listening in, but there doesn't seem to be anyone. "Can you make your voice quieter?" I drop my tone down to a whisper. "If _anyone _else, and I mean _anyone else_, finds out, I'm dead."

"What's the issue?" the blond replies, not lowering her tone by any means whatsoever. "I've liked plenty of guys before, and I've dated plenty of guys before. Mind you, they were all assholes to me in the end, especially Irving when he cheated on me with Aubrey, who cheated on my best friend in the process, but still." She shrugs. "It's nothing you should be worried about-"

Now it's _my _turn to interrupt _her_. "But Phineas isn't like that. Lilly, _please, _I beg of you." I actually fold my hands into a begging position. "Don't tell anyone."

She kind of gives me an unimpressed stare after I say this to her before groaning. "_Fine_," she whines in the way that a little kid would after an adult would tell him he had to go to bed and stop playing with Legos. She spins her wheelchair around and heads for the elevator. "Party pooper."

I ignore this and instead press the button to get onto the elevator like we were supposed to ten minutes ago. As we both step (or, uh, _wheel_) into the cramped amount of space, I think about what just happened. Somebody besides me, that somebody being a gossiper, knows about my crush on Phineas that I had told everyone I had gotten over back at the end of junior year.

Crap.

**Next Chapter Preview: Phineas begins to notice that his brother's been acting weird around Perry, or just in general, really. What will happen when he inquires about this to him?**

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**In case you guys haven't noticed…I haven't been updating nearly as often as I used to. Expect this from now on, unfortunately. School keeps me busy. Heck, I'm already a quarter of a way through the year! It's insane how fast it's going.**

**Enough about me. Did it surprise you that Katie actually _didn't _get over her affection for Phineas? And how about her interaction with Lilly? By the way, I'm sorry if her language made you uncomfortable...but hey, this story's rated for a reason, and that reason is for the language. For the most part.**

**(And yes, Pan, I used your insult idea, with the Kite-y. XD Hope you don't mind.)**


	21. Phineas Gets Suspicious

_**Sunday, November 19, 7:04 AM**_

_**The Flynn-Fletcher Backyard**_

_**Phineas**_

"What'cha doin'?" Isabella inquires upon her entry into the backyard.

Hearing the sound of her voice, I grin, turn around, and remove my mask that I use whenever constructing something with Ferb, who at the moment is drilling a screw into a piece of wood. "Nothin' much. We're still kind of planning," I reply as I walk over to her, but she doesn't appear to be listening as she is looking around the backyard. On her face is a confused expression.

"Where…_is _everybody?"

I sling an arm around her shoulder and lead her over to our latest invention. I lower my tone down to a whisper even though there's no way anyone could hear us. Ferb, after all, is making a lot of noise over there (for him, anyway), and my parents are both out somewhere unclassified. "We told everyone we wouldn't be doing anything," I mutter to her. "Except for you, Baljeet, and Buford."

Her eyes have grown very wide, even wider than usual. "But…Phineas, you _lied_. How did you _do_ that?" We've now reached Ferb, who is examining the two wooden pieces and frowning disgustedly. He barely makes an effort to wave at Isabella before returning his gaze to the subject at matter and putting his hand to his chin.

I frown slightly at him, but he doesn't appear to notice, so I just shrug. "I did it over the phone, so it wasn't _too _bad." I change the subject, since the whole topic of lying just makes me uncomfortable, period. "Anyway, so I did it because I figured it was such a long time since the five of us had done anything together. Why not do something while we still can? After all, it won't be long before we have to leave for college and whatnot."

She nods slowly, looking as though she is still processing the information. Not that I blame her. She, Ferb, Buford, Baljeet, and I haven't done an invention with just the five of us since middle school. "That's cool…I guess. So when are the other two getting here?"

"Sometime soon." I shrug and release her, grabbing my mask once again. "But that's okay. Right now, we're just messing around with wood and seeing what we can do with it."

"Since it can be used as both timber and fuel, there are many options that are out there in which it can be constructed," Ferb mutters. For some reason, he looks a _lot_ more irritated than usual. Maybe it's because of an argument with Emily or something. But that's unlikely. The two of them never fight.

Isabella leans down, takes a magnifying glass out of her pocket, and examines the pieces of wood, squinting her eyes while doing so. "Hmm. Well, it _does _look multifunctional. That's typically the case with wood." She looks sheepish. "But you probably already knew that."

I rub the back of my head. "Yeah." I sigh. "It's just getting harder to think of ideas we haven't done yet. That's why we're barely _doing _anything." I look over at my brother, who has now taken the mask off of his head and is rubbing his eyes. "Hey, Ferb. Do you want to do another musical-"

"No," he interjects immediately. Did he just roll his eyes?

I blink in surprise and glance briefly at Isabella, who has a somewhat shocked expression on her face as well. Ferb isn't normally so rude. "Um…all right." I look around me and frown. "Hey. Where's Perry?"

* * *

_**Perry…sort of. **_

"Morning, Agent P."

These were the first words the platypus heard each morning, and quite frankly, he was getting restless of hearing them each morning. He grunted and adjusted the dark brown fedora on his head absentmindedly as he listened to whatever else the old man had to say about what Doofenshmirtz was up to for the day.

"So, before I inform you of your mission, I need to ask you one thing."

Perry bit the bottom of his bill. He had just a _small _feeling this wasn't going to go well. His owner had reacted quite negatively when the platypus drew it out for him on the white board.

"How did Ferb react to the memory eraser breaking and Carl having to start over in the process of fixing it? Speaking of that…" He glanced off screen, presumably at the unpaid intern. "How _is _that going, Carl?"

Carl sighed. "Not good." He walked onto the screen, and Perry doubled back and stared at him in horror. The twenty-something year old was covered in what looked like black soot. Monogram looked even more horrified, if that was possible.

"Great googly moogly!" he shouted, his eyes growing large. "What in the world _happened?_" He slapped his forehead and groaned.

"It…kind of exploded on me." Carl took off his glasses and rubbed them on Monogram's shirt, making the man moan silently. The intern didn't seem to notice. "It wasn't my fault though, sir, I swear. I was just taking a look at the different screws that were inside the engine, since, as you know, they were the ones I discovered had caused the amnesia-inator to break anyway, and BOOM! It just went everywhere." He sighed again. "I have a feeling that I may have pressed the self-destruct button inadvertently."

Monogram rolled his eyes. "Well, if that was the case, I can't say I'm surprised. Get back to work." He then returned his attention back to Perry as soon as Carl walked off of the screen. "Anyway Agent P, sorry about that. So what was Ferb's reaction?"

Perry shook his head slowly.

"So…it wasn't pretty, overall?"

Again, Perry shook his head.

"I can't say I'm surprised about _that, _either. I'm anxiously awaiting for the day in which I _will _be surprised about something big, like my birthday. I haven't been surprised about my birthday since right before my days at…_The Academy._" After thinking of a series of flashbacks, he looked down to see the agent giving him an unimpressed look, in which he cleared his throat. "Anyway. Your mission. Doofenshmirtz was spotted buying a bunch of plastic tableware and some plastic bowls one would use for eating. This looks somewhat suspicious. So get out there and stop whatever he's doing!"

Perry gave him a quick salute before running over to his hovercraft. In a matter of seconds, he was out of the lair and flying over to the place he went to almost every day.

Monogram watched him leave before sighing and glancing at Carl. At the moment, he was standing by the amnesia-inator and examining it, still covered in black gunk everywhere except for his clothing, most likely having had changed. "Carl…don't you want to take a shower or something?" he wondered. "That's a…lot of…uh, _stuff _on you."

Carl shrugged, not moving from his spot in any way whatsoever. "That doesn't _really _matter to me right now. What _does _matter to me right now is the fact that Ferb still knows of Agent P's identity, and it's been what? Two months?"

"Approximately."

"So I'm trying my very best to get the amnesia-inator working again so we can take the memory of Agent P away other than the way he's always known him. I'm trying to believe Ferb wouldn't tell anyone else on purpose, but…" He hesitated before continuing. "You never know. And he clearly wasn't happy about having to wait longer to have his memory erased. I'm just afraid he'll say something to someone."

Monogram nodded. "You're exactly right, Carl. I just have this nagging feeling that Phineas is going to figure it out in one way or another."

"Again, I don't think he would do it on purpose." Carl bit his lip, wiping off some of the soot. "But Phineas is smart. Eventually, he's going to figure out why his brother's acting so weird and will act on it. That's why I really want to get this done as soon as possible."

* * *

_**Back to Phineas. **_

I have a feeling that my brother's acting weird for a reason I'm not supposed to know of.

Buford and Baljeet arrived a few minutes ago and are now assisting us in inventing a giant game board (out of leftover wood pieces, of course) that can be automatically transformed into a different board game with a press of a button. Isabella came up with the idea after we played an impromptu game of Skiddley Whiffers.

Ferb, however, has been kind of…out of it, if that makes sense. He'll bang a nail every once in a while, but then he'll stop doing anything and just kind of sit there for a few seconds, staring off into space. It isn't until Buford, who is next to him, pokes him in the back that he will get back to work.

"Yo, Dinner Bell," he mutters quietly enough to me so that no else will hear. He's glancing at Ferb as he does this. "What's wrong with Beanpole o'er there? He's bein' weird, even for him."

I shrug, ignoring the last part of his sentence. "I don't know. He's been acting this way for a while."

Buford just kind of sits there for a second before continuing. "Is he havin' problems with British Gal or somethin'? By the way…where _is _she? And where's everyone else?"

"Long story." I don't want to talk about lying again. "And that's what I thought, too, but I don't think so. They never argue or disagree about anything. Plus, I don't want to be in their business if that _is _the case."

Buford nods slowly, seeming to process the information. "…Kay." His phone buzzes in his pocket, and he glances down as he pulls it out of his pocket. His face brightens as he pulls up the message. "It's V." He reads the text, and all of a sudden, his face falls. "Oh…crap."

"What?" Baljeet wonders as he puts a band-aid around his thumb, having giving himself a splinter. Apparently, we weren't as quiet as we thought we were being, because Isabella is looking up from the other side of the giant disc we're constructing, too. Ferb has gone inside, probably to go to the bathroom or something. Really, who knows at this point what he's doing? It's really been bugging me how he's been acting cold to us all day. It's just not like him.

"Here's what it says." Buford imitates his girlfriend as he reads the text message out loud, snapping me out of my thoughts and paying attention to him. "Buford, where the hell are you? You _know _I asked you to hear my cover of that old song we were talking about earlier. The one from Bon Jovi? Anyway, so yeah. Call me." He moans and turns the phone off. "Not happenin', V. Sorry."

We all kind of just stand there for a second, not really sure how to respond. Isabella coughs.

"At least _your _girlfriend is not texting you constantly," Baljeet moans. He pulls his own cell phone out and glares at it as if it was a pencil point that constantly kept on breaking even after you sharpened it a billion times. "Ginger knows I do not text, for crying out loud."

Um…okay? I squirm uncomfortably and glance at Isabella, who seems to get the message across and nods. She pushes her black hair back before sighing and clasping her hands together the way she used to as the Fireside Girl troop leader."Um, guys, we should probably get back to work," she advises the two. "We're falling behind schedule here. Normally, we're done by now."

"That's because Ferb's been a lazy ass," Buford moans after he types something to Vienna on his phone and shoves it in his pocket, and I glare at him momentarily. He _knows_ how I feel about that kind of language. Unfortunately, he doesn't even flinch and just keeps on going. "I mean, come on. He usually gets this stuff done in like an hour, at most. Maximum."

All right. I can't stand talking about Ferb behind his back anymore. It's just making me upset when I don't want to be. It's Sunday, for crying out loud! One of the two days of the week in which we actually get some time to invent. And we're just wasting that time talking about nothing in particular. "That's it." I take the mask off of my head, where it has perched for the past ten minutes, and rest it onto the ground before walking into the house. My friends and girlfriend stare at me in surprise as I do this, but I don't really care. I need to find out why Ferb's acting the way he is.

Luckily, it doesn't take me long to find him. Much to my surprise, he's just simply sitting down on the couch and staring at the television, which is tuned to "Pinhead Pierre", this old show that our dad used to love to watch as a kid. Actually, he still does. It's a little weird.

As I'm staring at him in disbelief, he finally turns his head slowly towards my direction. Like usual, he says nothing, only blinking at me. I sigh. I don't really want to have to confront him about anything suspicious since that's really not like me to do so, but I have to. I hate seeing my brother in such a bad mood. "Hey," I say to break the silence. "How…are you?"

_Great question, Phineas, _I tell myself sarcastically. _Great question that he's most certainly going to answer whole._

Just as I previously assumed, Ferb just shrugs and once again stares at the TV. However, I can tell by the look on his face that he isn't paying attention to it. He's twiddling his thumbs and is biting his lip a little.

"Um…" I hesitate, not really knowing what to say. "What are you watching?"

He points at the TV.

"Yeah, I know that." I chuckle, just to try and relieve some of the tension in the room. "But, uh…why aren't you outside with the rest of us? We haven't done something with just the five of us in…five years? Six?"

My brother looks away.

"Really, Ferb," I insist, sitting myself down on the couch. "What's wrong? You're not acting…right."

Finally, he glances at me. I can hear him take a small intake of breath before lifting himself off of the cushions and beginning to walk to the door. I begin to frown. He never even answered my question. "Ferb, please," I plead, rushing over to the door and blocking it so he can't get past. He raises an eyebrow at me, but I don't stop. I _have _to know what's wrong with him. "Is it a problem with one of our friends, and that's why you can't invent? Is it something to do with Emily? Is it-"

"No," he interrupts. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and avoids my gaze. "Emily and I are fine." He lets a smile creep up at the corner of his bottom lip. "_Just_ fine."

I blink, not really knowing what that's supposed to mean. Maybe I'll ask Isabella later. "Um…okay. But really, though, what's the matter with you? I'm just concerned, that's all. I don't want you to have to do something you don't want to do, but this is normally something you _love _to do."

My green-headed brother shrugs for the umpteenth time in the past ten minutes. "It's…not anything you need to know," he informs me, shaking his head to one side to get some hair out of his eyes. He's still not looking me straight in the eye. "It's…personal business."

I give him a strange look. "Personal…business?" I echo.

He just nods slowly. Apparently, he's already spoken everything he needs to for the day. I try not to show my irritation as I reply. "Well… all right." Before I open the door for us to head back outside, though, I look straight into his dark blue irises. "But Ferb…if there really is something going on, you know you can tell me." I manage to show him a grin. "We've always told each other everything important."

He smiles back at me, just a little bit, before pushing the door open and heading back into the backyard, immediately picking up a few pieces of wood, stacking them, and then nailing them all together instantly. I can see our other friends trying to catch my eye as I enter the daylight as well, but I don't let them, instead glancing suspiciously at my brother.

I know I'm not normally so nosey about other peoples' lives, even the ones of my family members. But for some reason, this seems different.

I need to figure out what's wrong with Ferb, and I need to figure it out soon.

**Next Chapter Preview: We finally go back to Adyson when she reveals to her family on Thanksgiving the secret she's been keeping from them for two months. What will they say? What will they _do_?**

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**Phew…this chapter took forever. I'm sorry. But hey, it was good to actually see _Phineas, _right? I hate that I've practically made him a side character in this story. He's one of the two titular characters in the show, for heaven's sake! But yeah, I'll try to make him appear more often from now on.**

**Hmm…I guess I should mention that I have a new poll up…it's kind of a random question, but I just want to know the answer to it. And what's a question without an answer, right? So feel free to answer that if you have an account. If you don't want to, either, that's cool, too. Whatever works best for your lives at this point is fine. My life's been pretty hectic, too, unfortunately. :/**

**I'm going to try my best to get the next chapter up far more quickly…but I can't guarantee it. You know what? Forget what I just said. It won't happen. It just won't. I know it, and I'm sorry, since the next chapter is one you've been waiting for. *sigh* All right. I'll shut up now and actually let you guys carry on with your lives…**


	22. Adyson Tells Her Family: What Happens?

_**Thursday, November 23, 4:24 PM**_

_**The Sweetwater Residence**_

_**Adyson**_

"I can't do it. I'm too scared."

These are my first words that I say as Vienna picks up her cell phone. These words pretty much sum up exactly how I'm feeling without it getting overly complicated and confusing for either one of us. I glance down at myself as I wait for my best friend's response, tugging my red hoodie out a bit so it doesn't show anything that could possibly make me look different.

Today's Thanksgiving, the day that Vienna's mom told Vienna that I had to tell my mom about what I'm going through, or else _she _will say something to her. I was almost too upset at V for even saying anything, but after yelling at her for a few minutes, I finally realized that this actually is kind of a good thing. I would have had to tell my mom eventually, and I don't know when else I would have gotten the courage to do it. So after apologizing to her, I said I would do it.

A minute has now passed, and I take the phone away from my ear and look down at it irritably. What is _taking _her so long to respond? She picked up, after all. I heard her breathing. "Yo," I say, putting it back up to my ear. "Are you there?"

"Sorry, sorry."

Well, gee, it's about freaking _time_. "What the hell were you _doing_? You know, when the person you're calling picks up the phone on the other end, it's usually safe to assume that that person will actually _talk_. Are you making sense of this, or have you left again?"

She hesitates. I can picture her blushing in embarrassment, which she really doesn't do often. "Um…"

"What?" Now I'm confused. What's _with_ her?

"See…it's my mom." She sighs. "She came in my room, without knocking, of course, because she's just that considerate, and asked me if you had told your mom yet. Obviously, I said no, you had not, and she just rolled her eyes and walked out. That's why I was kind of…absent from this conversation for a minute."

"…Oh." Now it's my turn to feel embarrassed.

"She's just…I mean, she's my mom, and I know I'm supposed to love her and all, but she's making it really hard for me to do that. You know what I mean? It's just really hard for me to understand why she hates me." Vienna sighs again.

I blink, really not knowing how to respond. How _do _you respond to someone saying something like that? "Wow. Um…I'm sorry-"

"Don't apologize," she hastily interrupts. I can hear some rustling of papers, so she must be in her recording studio. She always keeps her sheet music in there. "It's not your fault that my mom is a you-know-what. And besides, you're probably feeling really moody lately, too. I shouldn't have dumped my feelings on you like that."

I shrug, not that she can see it. "It's fine, V, whatever. And I'm getting tired of this conversation. It's boring me."

"Yeah, same." She pauses for a few seconds, and after that bit of an awkward silence, she begins to talk again. "So when will you tell your mom, after dinner? Will you tell your brother, too?"

"Yes to both questions. Though I _might_ say something during dinner." I bite my lip and glance extremely briefly at the mirror on my dresser, immediately looking away. "I…haven't decided yet."

There's some rustling on the phone line, sounding something like someone yelling, and Vienna groans. "That's Mom. Apparently, it's time for dinner. Guess I'll…see you soon."

"Yeah…same."

More awkward silence follows, and V clears her throat. "Well, um…bye."

"Bye."

We both hang up, and I toss my cell phone on the ground, throw my head back against my pillows, and groan. Why is my life so _hard_? I mean, I've got the whole teenage pregnancy thing going on, and the father is some guy I barely know who tricked me into having him rape me. Plus, my boyfriend who said he was okay with the whole deal is avoiding me, people in my school either treat me weird or laugh at me, and my friends are awkward around me. Even the nicest people in our whole, giant, weird bunch aren't the same around me. It's like I'm an alien that has just crash landed their UFO from Mars onto Earth.

And worst of all, my family has no clue that any of this is even going on.

* * *

_**An hour later, a few minutes before dinner is supposed to start**_

"Damn turkey," my mom mutters as she gets the damn turkey in question onto the dinner table. She stands back to examine her work on the table before turning towards me, hands on her hips. Also on the table are things like mashed potatoes made from a can, corn also from a can, and cranberry sauce. That was actually made from scratch, believe it or not."How does it look, Ad? Did I forget anything?"

Beads of sweat are on her forehead, so I make a point to look away from her face and look at the turkey instead. "Stuffing," I inform her in a deadpan tone. I know Vienna's texting me from the way my phone keeps buzzing in my pocket, but I don't bother to look at any of the messages. I'm not in the mood.

Mom groans, slapping a hand over her forehead. "Damn it," she curses again, rolling her eyes and practically stomping over to the fridge and opening it. Sure enough, inside is a bag of stuffing. Yep, from a can. "Well, we're gonna have to forget that today. You okay with that?"

I shrug. "I've never even heard of it, so whatever. Yeah, that's good." I then realize that my hand is on my stomach, so I hastily remove it and stuff it in the pocket of my jeans instead. I'd rather not have her be suspicious of anything right before I'm about to tell her the actual truth.

She blinks at me, though I can't tell if it's because of what I just told her or because of my weird actions. "Uh…all right, then. I guess dinner's ready."

"Looks that way."

"NOAH!" my mom bellows to my thirteen-year old brother as she sits down at the table, taking out her sloppy ponytail and shoving the elastic into her pocket. Or maybe it's a rubber band. I really can't tell. "DINNER!"

Several seconds later, he strolls into the room, blinking repeatedly. He must have been in his bedroom playing Halo or Call of Duty with the lights out, and he was probably staring intently at the television for many hours straight because of this. This happens often, since I sometimes join him in his matches against random people online, so I know the signs when I see them. "Hey," he mutters. He pushes his for-once-not-done-up-with-too-much-gel chestnut brown hair out of his eyes and sits down at the table.

Realizing that I haven't done so yet, I quickly sit my butt down on a chair as well and move it closer to the food.

Mom clears her throat after I've done this and have finally settled down and after Noah has taken his vitamin to wake himself up. "First off, I just want to say that I did not have fun making this meal. But since this is supposed to be a holiday and we've done it every year, I figured, what the hell? I might as well do it."

"Good thing, too," Noah adds, looking longingly at the turkey in front of him.

"But before we do that, I believe we're supposed to pray." She glances at both of us kids, who squirm a little in our seats. None of us are really that religious, so when we're supposed to do stuff like pray out loud, it kind of makes us uncomfortable. "Who wants to do it?"

"Adyson," Noah tells her immediately.

I frown and glare at him, crossing my arms. "Hey! That's not fair."

"I think it's perfectly fair." He gives me a smug look as he says this. "Didn't I do it last year?"

"Uh, no. That was Mom. As was the year before."

"You're older, so you should have to do it this year."

"But don't they say the youngest always goes first-"

"Oh, for God's sake," Mom finally snaps before sighing and clasping her hands together. "I'll do it." When we finally shut up and quit bickering, she closes her eyes and bows her head slightly. "So…thanks for blessing our entire family with both wants and needs, luckily needs more than wants, such as the food set in front of us that I sucked at preparing. As for my life recently, both of the kids are still insane, but hey, they don't really hate each other, and that's really all that matters. I think. It makes my life slightly easier. Slightly."

Noah bites his lip as he struggles to hold in his laughter. I do the same. Mom is just not good at this stuff.

"But the thing I can't help liking about us is that we're always honest with each other, even about the most serious topics."

That's when the smile wipes right off my face. My eyes go wide, and Noah glances at me. Is that…_fear _on his face all of a sudden? Why would his facial expression look like that? Unless…no. There's no way. He goes to middle school, not high school, and by the time he'll be there, I'll be out of there. So he can't know.

"And…yeah, I think I've pretty much said what needs to be said. The kids are hungry," Mom continues, completely oblivious. She clears her throat again. "So, uh, thank you again for everything You've given us. Amen."

With that said, Noah picks up his fork and begins grabbing some turkey. However, I can't help but notice that he keeps looking at me oddly.

Mom, on the other hand, doesn't. She's actually smiling now, which is unusual for her."So guys, I haven't really haven't talked to you in a while," she says cheerfully as she spoons some lumpy mashed potatoes onto her plate. "How are you doing with Marissa and Django?"

Noah blushes. Marissa's the girl he's had a crush on since kindergarten. "All…right," he mutters, voice cracking slightly, which only makes him blush even more. He shoves some turkey in his mouth and avoids my mother's gaze.

"Good." The way she's speaking is really creeping me out. Think of the way Barbie talks. That's how she's talking. "And you, Adyson?"

"Fine," I lie, eating a small spoonful of corn.

The truth is, Django and I haven't been speaking lately. I just have this nagging feeling inside of me that he wasn't really okay with my pregnancy. Which is understandable, really. Who wants their girlfriend to be impregnated by someone else? But if that's the case, why doesn't he just _say _so? It's really pissing me off how he's leaving me wondering about this.

Mom, surprisingly, doesn't notice how I'm acting. "That's great. I'm glad to hear that." She finally begins to eat, and I glance over at Noah again. For some reason, his face is pale and I try to catch his eye as she continues to talk. "Steve and I are doing well, too. _Quite _well." She smirks.

Oh God. Steve is my mom's dim-witted boyfriend from Kentucky who thinks my mom is still in her twenties and that Noah and I are her brother and sister. She's actually thirty-three, and she had us when she was fifteen and twenty. I was the result of a one-night stand, and Noah…well, I don't even know how he exists.

Noah could not possibly be more pale now. What is _wrong _with him? I decide that I have to do something. I stand up from my chair, walk over to his, literally grab him by the ear, start dragging him out, tell my mom we need to talk for a second, and then lead him down the hall into his bedroom, all while he protests loudly.

I slam the door after throwing him inside, turn around, and face him, hands on my hips and eyes narrowed. "What the hell is _wrong _with you?" I demand as he rubs his forehead. "As soon as Mom said we were always honest with each other, you got this weird look on your face."

"So did you," he shoots back at me. "You looked like you had just been tasered or something."

"…Yeah. That's for reasons unclassified. But what I really want to know is why you lookedat _me _when she said that."

His eyes widen, and he mutters a word I can't say here.

"Noah Sweetwater." I make him look at me from down below, which obviously isn't easy for him. He's biting his lip down so hard, it looks like it's going to start bleeding. "Tell me _why-_"

"Iknowaboutyourpregnancy," he blurts out in one long word. He takes a very deep breath before lowering himself to the floor, clutching a random blanket he just found.

I blink, and then look at him harder. His words start to swirl around my head, and I slowly crouch down to the floor. "W-W-What-"

"Your school website. I was bored, so I went on it yesterday, and…there it was." He hesitates. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything before now, but I didn't know how to…uh, say it.",

The tears begin to well up in my eyes, and it takes all of my strength not to let them fall. Noah knows. He freaking knows, and I didn't even say anything about it to him. "I'll…tell you the whole story later," I say in as quiet of a tone as I can, wiping my nose with my sleeve. "All I'll tell you right now is that it's not Django's, and it's been two months."

He gapes. He kind of looks like a fish. "But…whose _is _it, then-"

"That's not important," I snap, rising myself off of the floor. "What's important at the moment is that Mom still doesn't know yet. I was planning to tell both you and her after dinner, but…now I just have to tell her."

All of a sudden, the door slams open.

"GAH!" Noah and I both scream, jumping back and staring at the doorway. Standing there is our mom, who has a large frown on her face. Guess her whole 'I'm gonna be smiley' phase has gone. That didn't last too long.

"M-Mom," I stammer after recovering. Sort of. "What was _that_-"

"I come up here," she says coldly, pointing a shaking finger at me. "And I hear you admitting to your brother, who just so happens to be _thirteen years old_, that you are pregnant." She bites down hard on her lip. "Is this true?"

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. I am officially screwed. I hang my head and avoid her gaze. The current look on her face is saying, 'You have messed up big time, missy.' I learned this look back when I was three and kept stealing cookies from the pantry. "Y-Yeah," I whisper. "But Mom-"

"No. You don't get to 'But Mom' me this time." She walks over, quietly pushes Noah away, and stares deeply into my eyes. Hers have this strange look to them, and I can't tell if it's supposed to be sadness, anger, or both reflecting in them, but I know it's not a good expression. "You _know _that I made bad decisions that ultimately led to the birth of you, and I thought for _sure _you wouldn't repeat those bad decisions-"

"You know, technically, it was _your _fault it happened."

The words that come out of my mouth were intended to be sharp, and I can tell by the look on my mom's face that they were. She takes a step back, crosses her arms, and glares at me. "You did _not _just say that," she threatens.

"Oh, but I did," I fire back. I know I'm entering dangerous territory here, but I don't stop. "You remember that time that you took me to the bar and pub downtown and you let me go out with those college kids?"

She says nothing, only just nodding slowly.

"Well, one of the kids tricked me into getting drunk and…he raped me, resulting in him knocking me up." Now it's my turn to cross my arms. "If you hadn't given me permission to go, none of that would have happened, and we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Noah has just been awkwardly standing here this whole time. "Uh…can I eat dinner now?" he asks, gesturing towards the doorway.

"No," Mom informs him, still looking at me. "I need you to be here when I say this to your sister." She takes another step closer to me, and this time, her eyes narrow even farther. "Adyson Diana Sweetwater, you are officially kicked out of the house."

It takes a few seconds for that to sink in, but as soon as it does, my mouth drops in disbelief, as does Noah's. "What?" I exclaim.

"You heard me." Now she's looking away. "Tomorrow morning, I want you out."

"Why?" I cry. She can't _possibly _be doing this to me. "Grandma didn't do that to you!"

"Well, I'm not Grandma, am I?"

Anger boils up inside of me. "No. You're _worse_ than her. Mom, I'm eighteen! You were _fourteen _when you got pregnant with me. Fourteen! And you actually _intended _to be so, unlike me. I didn't ask for _any _of this!"

Mom clenches a fist, which she tries to hide from me, but fails. "Stop it, Adyson. Stop it. You're being unfair."

"No!" I scream. "_You're_ being unfair! You know what it's like to go through the challenges I'm in right now. You of all people should know just how scary it is being in a situation like this when you're so young!"

"You know what?" she screams right back. "I'm only giving you an _hour _to get out of this house! You want more? Hmm? Do you?"

"You know what? Yeah! I would like that!"

"Half an hour, then!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"I hate you!" I scream. I'm vaguely aware that tears are sliding down my face now, more than likely getting my stupid makeup everywhere, but I don't care. I don't effing care.

"Great! I'm glad you do!" With that said, she swiftly turns and stomps out of the room. Within seconds, another door has slammed.

I instantly collapse onto the floor and break out into sobs. I feel Noah awkwardly standing over me and patting my back. "There, there," he says quietly. "Uh…it's…okay."

"Don't lie to me, Noah." I sniff and give out a shuddery breath. "I guess I better go pack."

He nods. However, neither of us make an effort to leave.

"So…" I hesitate before continuing. "Will you help me?"

He turns away extremely briefly before turning back, nodding, and even giving me a small smile. "Yeah. Sure."

**Next Chapter Preview: So…where's Adyson going to be staying from now on? And what will happen when Lilly invites Katie over?**

* * *

**Whoa…that's probably the most intense chapter I've written yet. I have to say, I'm proud of myself. So, what did you guys think of it?**

**Updates: Probably won't be happening for a while. I'm insanely busy all this week, so I won't have time then. Hopefully next weekend, I'll be able to update, but in no way can I guarantee that. *sigh* Oh well. Nothing I can do about it.**

**And whoever wrote that critique on my story in the form of a review, can I just say THANK YOU? I _love_ it when I get stuff like that. Love it, love it, love it. I love it when people actually sit down, analyze a story, and give good criticism on it. Really, I do. So again, thank you for that. It brightened up my day just a bit. :)**


	23. Lilly and Adyson: Both Moving Elsewhere

_**Still Thursday, November 23, 6:03 PM**_

_**The Garcia-Shapiro Residence**_

_**Isabella**_

"Adyson?"

I stare at my friend as she just walks into the house and collapses onto a nearby sofa, throwing a backpack that looks quite full onto the floor. Her hair is messy and disheveled, and she has no makeup on other than a few streaks of black across her cheeks, meaning that she's been crying.

Even though she hasn't said a word to me, I can tell that she's been upset about something for a while. Before she got pregnant, she was never that emotional about anything, really. Now, obviously, that's all changed. It takes me a while to think of something to say to her that doesn't sound insensitive. "What's wrong? What happened?"

My friend since before we were even Fireside Girls together says nothing, only looking at me with a blank expression. Her eyes, however, tell a different story. I can't tear mine away from hers even though she's clearly trying to do the opposite.

"Adyson, please," I beg, ignoring my phone that's vibrating in my pocket. Phineas and I were texting before I heard the doorbell ring, so he's probably wondering what the heck I'm doing. For once, I don't even care what he thinks right now. He'll probably think of different inventions with Ferb within the next minute, anyway. I walk over to where Adyson is sitting and take a seat in a nearby chair. "Tell me what's wrong right now. You wouldn't have come here otherwise; I know you. You don't waste your time just randomly going to people's houses." I wait for her response, wondering just what she'll have to say.

For a second, she continues to say nothing, and I'm about to lose it with impatience and worry before she finally clears her throat. "I-It's my mom," she manages to squeak out. She rests her face in between the palms of her hands and looks away. "S-She found out about m-my pregnancy, and I didn't even exactly _tell _her. It's...complicated."

My heart sinks as I process this information. Oh no. The backpack. The tear-stained cheeks. It all makes sense now. "She didn't-"

"She did," she confirms, now sniffling. It's obvious that she's struggling not to cry with the way her shoulders keep shaking and her legs completely frozen like we're standing in the middle of the North Pole with no coat. "I am officially kicked out of the house until further notice."

"Oh my God," I whisper. Words can't express how awful I feel for my friend right now.

"Isabella?" I hear my mom call out from what I'm assuming is the kitchen.

Adyson's eyes widen, but I shush her by putting a finger to my lips and standing up. "Yeah, Mom?" I call out in return, beginning to walk out of the living room and into the kitchen, where sure enough, my mom stands. She is examining a box of pancake mix and frowning.

"Isa, does your father like this kind of pancake mix, or does he prefer homemade?" Mom wonders, shaking the pancake mix absentmindedly as she bites the inside of her cheek. "I have this small feeling it is homemade, though I'm not positive…" She trails off, instead looking at me expectantly.

"Why don't you just ask him?" I wonder, not unkindly. "Wouldn't _he_ have a better answer to that question?"

"He is already asleep," she groans in reply, shoving the pancake mix into the cabinet without a second thought. Mom then glances towards the door that leads to the living room. "But anyway, enough of that. I thought I heard you opening the door to someone in there. Who was it?"

I gulp. My mom is a pretty nice person compared to some of my friends' moms, but I don't know how well she would take the news of one of them being pregnant. The other adults that have found out obviously haven't taken it so well. "Um…it's Adyson. See, Mom-"

"My mom kicked me out," Adyson interrupts. Startled, I turn around to see her standing at the doorway, arms crossed and leaning over so one side rests completely against it. Her red hoodie is even baggier than usual in the front, if that's even possible. I'm sure she's just trying to hide whatever's already there. "I was…um…" She hesitates. "It's a very long story that not many seem to believe, but I was kinda knocked up by a random guy, and, uh…yeah. I just wanted to tell Isabella that I was leaving town since she's the most trustworthy person I know right now, but I uh, kind of didn't get the chance to do that. So…yeah."

I blink, not really knowing how to reply. She really didn't give that great of a speech, so I don't know if my mom even understood a word of what she said. Not to mention that she's leaving town? What? "Um…Adyson, you didn't have to-"

"Oh dear." Apparently, now it's my mom's turn to interrupt. Adyson and I both look at her, confused, and my eyes widen at her expression. Her eyes have a look of sadness to them, and her hand is covering her mouth. "Marianne made you leave your home even though it was not your fault that…um, _this_ happened?"

Adyson nods so slowly that it's almost hard to tell whether she even did it. She attempts to look over and catch my eye, but I don't let her. My gaze is focused on my mom right now, who looks saddened.

"Goodness, that is terrible. I will need to talk with her later." She gives a long sigh. "You poor girl."

A bit of an awkward silence follows. "Yeah…poor me," Adyson mutters. She shuffles her foot on the floor. It's pretty clear by her facial expression that she is not caring for this conversation. At all.

Mom puts a hand underneath her chin and cocks her head slightly, appearing to examine Adyson for only a brief second before returning to her normal position. She bites her lip. "Maybe I can talk to Daniel if I can wake him up…give me a second." With that, she quickly walks out of the room, leaving us standing there in discomfit. I offer her a chair at that nearby dining room table, and she sits down without comment. Her cheeks are bright red.

"So…you're leaving town?" I clarify, also taking a seat at the table. Barely realizing it, I begin to bite my nails.

She nods imperceptibly once again, blinking repeatedly. "Well…yeah. I mean, where the hell am I supposed to go otherwise? Vienna's mom is a bitch, so it's not like I can go to her place. And you know how annoying V is in the morning with her morning voice routines that she does."

I sit there, feeling slightly irritated by the use of her language. She didn't use to curse like that back when we were younger. In fact, nobody in town did. But I let her continue anyway, because I would rather that she not get mad at me with the mood she's in already.

"And Django, as you know, is being weird around me." She bites her lip, shifting around a bit in her seat when she thinks I'm not looking. "So…yeah. Basically, I'm screwed."

I'm just about to reply when my mom pops her head back in the room. To my surprise, she's actually smiling now.

* * *

_**The next morning…**_

"Thanks again, Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro," Adyson informs my mom quietly as she continues to poke her pancakes with the tip of her fork. It still smells like flour in here from the amount we used to make them this morning, since my dad actually _does _prefer homemade to the kind from a mix. My friend then looks up across the table at my dad, who is currently stuffing his mouth with pancake. "Thank you too, Mr. Shapiro. You have no idea how grateful I am for you letting me stay here."

He takes the next minute and a half to swallow and wipe his mouth with a napkin before replying. "Oh, it's no problem, Adyson. By the way, _please _don't call me Mr. Shapiro. That's my dad's name. Daniel is fine."

"Uh…okay-"

"No, you know what? Call me Dan. Or Danny. Yeah, Danny! That's good. It was my nickname back in high school when _Grease_ was still popular." He smirks. "Got all the ladies' attention, oh, yes it did. Danny Zuko _was _the heartthrob, after all."

"Oh my God," I groan, slapping my forehead. My dad is so embarrassing. My mom, of course, laughs, and slaps him playfully.

Adyson is clearly struggling not to laugh. "Uh…sure thing, _Danny_." She winks at me, and I find myself smiling back even though I'm not really in the mood to do so. Adyson can do that to people.

My phone buzzes in my pocket then, and after checking to make sure no one is looking (my mom thinks it's rude to use the phone at the table), I look down and check my messages. Hmm. I have two.

One: Phineas. _Hey, Isabella. Sorry about yesterday._

My eyebrow goes up. Why is _he _sorry? _I _was the one who kind of abandoned the conversation without warning. But I keep reading.

_But anyway, I was just wondering if you wanted to come over to our house today. Since it's Thanksgiving weekend, Ferb and I wanted to do something really big and awesome on Saturday. We just wanted to see if you wanted a preview in advance of what that would be. ;) Call me later if you can._

I can't stop the smile from appearing on my face. Phineas really _does _care about my opinion about things, and he always has. The only real difference from the way it was a few years ago is that now I know for _sure _he likes me back. He did kind of kiss me at the prom. But barely. We still haven't had what most people consider a real kiss.

Before getting up from the table to call him and say that yes, I will come later, I then remember that I have another message from someone else. Reluctantly, I open it up. It's from Lilly.

_OMG, I am sooooo bored. We're moving my room downstairs 2day so it's easier 4 me to get 2 it or whatever, but I want some1 else here w/ me. It's sooo boring otherwise. Plz?_

I bite my lip as I reply, making sure to look up every once in a while and pretend to listen to the conversation. Adyson's now giggling really hard at something my dad is saying, and my mom is giving him an unimpressed look.

_Sorry, Lilly, but Adyson's at my house right now. I'll provide you the details later if she doesn't mind, but I need to stay here for the rest of the day. Sorry. :( _

I decide not to add that I would rather go to Phineas' for the day.

"Isa?"

I snap my head up to see the three of them staring at me. My mom is holding out her hand, and sighing, I hand it over after being sure to turn it off. She nor my dad can figure out the new generation of iPhone since it's so complicated. I had to have Ferb tell me how it worked. "Sorry, Mom," I say, my cheeks flushing. Adyson is giving me a somewhat sympathetic look.

"No, it's all right." She shrugs as she tucks the phone inside of her pocket. "I was just tired of seeing you on your mobile device when you _should _be chatting with us. Your father is entertaining us with stories from high school."

"Fantastic," I say sarcastically, and my mom just laughs again.

"Really, though, Isabella, he's hilarious," Adyson informs me. Her tone then drops to a whisper, and she cups her hand around my ear. "Honestly, it's getting to the point where I want to pee all over myself, even more than I normally do nowadays."

She says it in such a serious tone that I end up bursting into laughter, followed by both of my parents even though they have no clue what were talking about. It's certainly going to be… _interesting_ having my friend live here.

* * *

_**The Stephens/Carlson Residence**_

_**Lilly**_

"Seriously?" I groan upon glancing at my latest message from Isabella.

My grandmother glances over at me. Currently, I'm sitting at the dining room table while she's in the kitchen making some kind of cookie-brownie thing. I honest to God have no clue what it is. All I know is that they're being made by her, and it smells like a cookie factory in here, so they're going to be good. "What's the matter?" she wonders, dipping her finger into the batter and taking a lick even though that's supposedly unsanitary.

"It's Isabella." I roll my eyes and practically throw the phone inside of the little case that's attached to my wheelchair. "She can't come, and neither can Holly. It's pi-I mean, it's really irritating me how _no one _is free." I'm always careful to not curse around my grandmother. It's just wrong.

She nods slowly. "I see. But think about it, honey. People are usually busy during Thanksgiving break." She looks at me quizzically. "By the way…isn't it Black Friday or whatever that's called today?"

"Don't remind me."

She only nods at me, then takes the next minute to actually put the cookie-brownie things in the oven, and I take that time to just stare down and not really think about anything except for the fact that I'm stuck at home on Black Friday for the first time in ten years and am about to move my frickin' bedroom downstairs with only my uncle and brother to help me. And since neither of them has good fashion taste, they really won't be that helpful to organize my stuff, anyway. That's why I need a girl here with me.

"So, Lilly," my grandma says to break the silence. "Are you telling me that _no _other girl you know could come over here and help you organize your stuff?"

"Weeeelll," I elaborate, and begin to use my fingers to count the girls in our group. "Isabella and Holly are my closest girl friends, but neither of them are available. Holly's out of town, and I don't know where Isabella is supposed to be. Gretchen is God-knows-where, and I don't like her anyway, so that all works out. Milly doesn't have great fashion taste, and she's out of town anyway. Same with Emily. Aubrey's so sweet and cute, but she's dumb as a rock, not to mention I'm still mad at her."

"Isn't she the one dating your ex-boyfriend?" Grandma wonders. "Oh, what's his name? Irwin?"

"That was my sixth ex," I clarify, having to give off a small smile. She has such a good memory for someone her age. "_Irving _is my seventeenth and my last one so far, and he's the one Aubrey is dating. And since she cheated on Holly with him, I'm mad at her."

She only sighs in reply, moving her eyes heavenward. "Girls your age. All right. Continue."

"I don't like Adyson, Vienna, or Ginger, not to mention Ginger's a pain the ass-sorry, _butt_, to shop with since she has to virtually try on everything in the store. Even though we wear the same outfits _every day._"

Grandma mutters something under her breath, but I didn't exactly catch what it was, so I just move on.

"Savannah has terrible fashion taste even though I will admit that she's pretty, which shouldn't make sense and doesn't, but anyway, she's out." I sigh after realizing who I've narrowed it down to. "That leaves Katie. She's in town this weekend."

Grandma thinks for a second. "Isn't she the really pretty blond? The dancer?"

"Yeah," I say grudgingly.

"Well, then it will be good." She offers me an encouraging smile as I take my cell phone out and go to my contact list. Just so you know, I didn't ask for her number. She put it in herself the day we had our first real conversation in the hallway, when we were in the elevator.

Good times, good times that we will have doing this. _Not._

* * *

_**Twenty minutes later**_

"So…yeah. This is it," I inform as Katie begins to slowly wander around my new bedroom. It used to be the guest room, but since I have a lot of trouble getting upstairs nowadays, that'll be moved upstairs so I can stay downstairs at all times. Now there are boxes all over my room filled with crap, so I need to get this Britney Spears-Backup-Dancer-wannabe to work.

"It's nice."

I shrug and brush that comment away, pretty sure that she's lying. She had better be lying, because this room sucks. For now. It won't be after we actually get to work on this place. "All right, Dancer the Reindeer. See that box over there marked 'clothing'? I want that over there in the closet. I'll get to hanging it on a lower clothes rod later once I actually get one at the Googolplex Mall."

However, she doesn't obey, instead just staring specifically at this one box.

"Yo." I don't try to hide the irritation in my voice. "The clothing box?"

Finally, she snaps out of her thoughts, turning towards me and blinking at me. "Oh, sorry. Were you talking to me?"

Seriously? "Who are you, Robert De Niro?" I sarcastically ask her, rolling my eyes and maneuvering the chair to the opposite side of the room, where the clothing box sits. I shove it into the closet and then close the door. "Yes, I was talking to you."

"Well, sorry." She sounds somewhat offended. "I just…that box-"

"No time for chatting, Braidy. We need to get this room done and looking like the way my bedroom upstairs used to look. Let's see. Where's my makeup-"

"No."

The way she says it actually makes me stop talking. The way she says it almost sounds…_forceful_. Maybe even upset, though that could be a little broad. The point? The way she said that 'No' was not normal. "What?"

"I don't want you to just tell me where boxes go, _Barbie_," she shoots back, and I almost feel a sting in my cheek, like she slapped me. Normally _I'm _the one giving people hurtful nicknames. Not the other way around. But I just let her continue, because I can't think of a good way to respond without sounding stupid. And anyone that knows me knows that I _never _give stupid responses to anything.

"I just want to take some time." She hesitates. "You want to do this so quickly. Why not just kind of go through every box, savor the memories, and actually put stuff away?" Now she almost looks ashamed of herself. Almost. "It only makes sense-"

"No, no, I see what you're saying, Danceroid," I interrupt. My cheeks begin to flush. Why are my cheeks beginning to flush? "I just…I don't know. I…like my old room."

Sheesh. That sounded a lot less lame in my head.

Katie doesn't appear to think it's lame, though. She instead just shoots me a small smile and starts walking over to the box she had been eying earlier, picking it up and taking it over to me when I gesture for her to put it on my lap. "That's cool. But I wanted to look inside this box. I haven't thought about the Fireside Girls in a long time, quite honestly."

I look, and sure enough, I've marked it, _Fireside Girl Stuff_. "Oh, God," I say, grimacing as I attempt to open it. "I haven't looked at this stuff in years. This was actually packaged _long _ago." I finally manage to get it open, and together, we peek inside.

"Oh, God," I say again. I wrestle my old uniform out and stare at it in disgust as Katie starts laughing.

"Even _mine _wasn't as hideous as yours." She tries to stop laughing, but ultimately fails. "I don't even remember how to sew anymore except for a few buttons or so."

"Yeah, same." We remain quiet for a few seconds, and it suddenly dawns on me that I haven't insulted her in a whole minute. That's a pretty big accomplishment, considering I don't really even like her that much.

Or do I?

"So…should we keep going?" Katie wonders, and I snap out of it to see her gesturing to some more boxes. Several of them are piled to the ceiling. Geez, I have a hell of a lot more stuff than I thought I did.

"Not until we go through the rest of this box," I notify her, offering an actual smile that's not my normal phony one. Hold on. Why am I offering her an actual smile that's not my normal phony one? "After all, we shouldn't go through this so quickly."

Katie smiles in reply, and we spend the next half hour laughing at the stupid pictures in the scrapbooks we got our last day as Fireside Girls. Maybe I don't dislike this girl, after all. Maybe…I should actually get to know a person before I judge them.

Whoa, what am I _thinking_? Not judging a person before I know them? What is _wrong _with me lately?

**Next Chapter Preview: Holly and Aubrey have a very awkward conversation. We finally revisit Gretchen again, who shares a few reasons why she is currently the way she is and what she really thinks about Femily.**

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**So…I hope any of you guys that live in America will have good Thanksgivings, and if you _don't _live in America, then I hope your lives haven't sucked lately.**

**And gosh, this chapter's really long. It wasn't even that important of a chapter. Just finding out where Adyson's living now and going into Lilly's mean, somewhat selfish mind mind again. *shrugs* Oh well. What am I gonna do, right?**

**By the way, I just realized that I've been on this site for a year. That's insane, guys! Thanks to all of you that have constantly given me feedback over this past year, and if you haven't, that's okay, too. I just love the fact that people actually bother reading my crap, strange as that sounds. XD So...yeah. Also, we're almost at the 200 review mark! Double victory!**


	24. Awkward Reunions: Aubly and Ferbetchen

_**Now we're skipping ahead to Tuesday, December 5 at 11:47 AM. Nothing much really happened in between this date and the last one.**_

_**Danville High School Hallway**_

_**Holly**_

I'm biting my lip as I walk down this stupid hallway on the way to lunch, keeping my head down. Somehow, in the past month, people learned that Aubrey and Irving got together while the former was dating me. It's weird, really, considering none of us are really that popular, but this is high school. I guess in a weird way, it _does _make sense.

"Yo."

I turn around, cautiously moving my head up, and am relieved to see Lilly sitting behind me. Quickly, we usher to the side of the hallway so that people don't get pissed off at us for not moving. "Oh, thank God," I sigh, leaning down and giving my best friend a hug, which she gives back the best that she can. "I've had the suckiest day today."

"No kidding." As we pull back, Lilly glares at two sophomore boys who are snickering at her or me, it's hard to tell, and their eyes widen. They scurry off, and after rolling her eyes and adjusting her wheelchair, she turns her attention back on me. "School sucks in general. Stupid people don't make it any better."

"Six more months," I remind myself out loud, shaking my head. "Six more months."

"That's the spirit." The blond flashes me the fastest grin ever before immediately flipping the expression over into a frown. "So how have you _been _lately? I haven't talked to you in like, forever." She lowers her tone for her next sentence. "You haven't talked to Aubrey lately, have you?"

"Not…really. Of course, she tries to be all friendly with me and offers to share her glittery pencils with me in history class all the time since we sit by each other-"

"You picked them, didn't you?" she interrupts flatly.

"It was the beginning of the year!" I protest, my cheeks burning in embarrassment.

"Still." Lilly sighs and tosses some of her hair, extensions included, I can tell, back. "Continue."

"As I was _saying,_ she tries to be nice to me, but…I can't take it. Every time I see her, I'm reminded of our relationship. It kills me."

"God, Holly. You _still _haven't gotten over her?" She sounds pissed, and her voice starts getting louder with every word, her accent more prominent. After she's done talking, she's _this close _to being at the yelling point. "How did Irving and I get over _us_ so fast? Gretchen and Ferb? Django and Vienna? Baljeet and Misty-"

"Mishti."

"Whatever. Both names are stupid, anyway. My point is that once you break up with someone, you forget about them."

"But none of those examples were fair. None of them _really _liked each other." I cross my arms. "Aubrey and I were different. You know it, and _I _know it. Your example especially is terrible. You've had what? Fifty boyfriends in the past six years, none of which you _really_ liked?"

Lilly gives me an annoyed look, even more annoyed than it was before. "Seventeen," she corrects me. "And yes, you have a point. But _my _point makes more sense." All of a sudden, her voice goes more into a soft tone, and she wheels her wheelchair up a little closer to me. "Holly…it's almost Christmas, supposedly the most wonderful time of the year. It sure as hell isn't going to _feel _like the most wonderful time of the year if you keep moping around about your ex-girlfriend. Complaining won't help either. It's like bad breath, you notice it when it comes out of somebody else's mouth, but not your own. And it ticks people like me off. So shut the _hell_ up about Aubrey and actually learn to have a life that doesn't revolve around skipping off into a sunset surrounded by lollipops and rainbows all the time. Because life isn't like that."

After she finishes, crossing her arms and looking at me expectantly, all I can do is blink. Wow. She's right. I _have _pretty much revolved my life around Aubrey, and now that she's out of my life, I haven't known what to do with myself. "…Wow," I say after a somewhat awkward moment of silence that occurred as I thought Lilly's speech through. "That is… so true."

She breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank God. I was starting to think that I wasted all of that time for nothing."

"Speaking _of_ time…" I glance down the hallway for no reason whatsoever. "Don't you have to get to class?"

Lilly shakes her head as she moves her wheelchair back a little farther now that the hallway doesn't have as many people lingering around anymore. The warning bell has now rung to get to the next class. "Nope. I'm going to physical therapy, and I managed to convince my teacher that I needed to leave half an hour before I actually needed to." She chuckles. "She's a first-year teacher. I do it all the time."

"Sweet."

"Heck, yeah." She gestures to my lunch bag that I completely forgot about that's sitting limply in my hands. "So…I assume you need to be leaving sometime soon?"

My eyes widen. "Oh, jeez. Yeah, I better go."

"Yeah, you better." She sighs. "Well, it was good talking to you, I guess. Hopefully what I said to you stays true for you."

"Yeah. So…talk to you tonight?"

"Definitely-"

"Hi!"

We both blink at each other. "Who said that?" Lilly asks uncertainly. "It wasn't me."

"No, duh. You were interrupted."

"Hi!" The person says again, and I decide to just turn around and see who it is. When I see _who _it is, I stare at her in dismay.

It's Aubrey. Of. Freaking. Course.

"Hello, Aubrey," Lilly says coldly. I notice that her ears are turning red.

"Hello, Lilly." Aubrey, being the oblivious person she is, offers her cutest smile, and I have to struggle not to reach over, hold her hand, and grin the way I always used to when she gave that smile. "Hello, Holly."

"…Hi," I reply after hesitating. "So…um…why are you here?"

I see Lilly mouthing, _Stop it_, but I can't just leave Aubrey standing here. That's rude.

Aubrey blinks, cocking her head and looking somewhat confused. "I just wanted to talk with you. Is that a bad thing-"

"No, of course not," I interject. I then turn around again to see Lilly giving me an angry look. I gesture with my hand for her to leave, and, after scowling and shooting me a glare, she does so. Great. Now I _have _to call her tonight. "I'm just… wondering why you're not in class, that's all." It's taking all of my strength not to stutter as I talk. All I have to do is avoid looking into her eyes. Those beautiful green eyes.

Her face brightens suddenly. "It's because I had to use the magical poop stealing water chair, and as I was walking back, I saw you. So obviously, I _had _to talk to you."

My lips clamp shut as I continue to refuse to look at her and just let her ramble, her voice getting higher and happier with every word. _Don't do anything, _I remind myself. _Even if it's going to kill you._

"The magical poop stealing water chair really wanted a _lot _today, so I was there for a while. Miss Sara is probably wondering where I am. But it's okay. I like talking to people, anyway." She grins. "Especially you."

I still don't reply.

"Holly?" Now she's looking confused again. "What's the matter? You're not speaking to me."

Still nothing.

"Please?" Now her face has a look of dismay on it, and she steps closer, making me back away. "Holly, what's the matter? You look like the way Charity does when she learns that one of her exes is coming to see her." She shakes her head. "It's not good. One time, she made the kitchen blow up."

I let out a little snort without even realizing it, and I cover my mouth.

Unfortunately, she appears to have noticed, starting to blink repeatedly. It's not the blinking she does when she's about to cry, though. It's the blinking she does when she doesn't know what else to do. "Holly…" She hesitates. "Can I…ask you a question?"

I shrug, still avoiding my gaze from hers. "Um…yeah. But I want to ask you one, first." The question comes out of my mouth so quickly, I don't even have time to breathe. "Do you _actually _like Irving? In other words…how is your relationship going?"

God. I _really _hope I didn't make a mistake in asking that question.

It turns out, I did. Aubrey's biting her lip lightly, touching it with the tips of her fingers at the same time. "Um…yeah. It's…good. We're…good."

Fantastic. Now I've only made the conversation even more awkward.

"So…can I ask you _my _question now?"

"Sure." Anything to get away from _that _point of topic. After all, I'm really not a fan of Irving and never have been. I glance down at my watch and grimace. Lunch is almost over now.

"Are you still in love with me?"

My head snaps up so quickly, I'm surprised that I didn't pull a muscle. My throat tightens. My fingers start shaking. How did she _know_? She's…Aubrey. Little, oblivious, lover of fairy tales, brain-of-a-six-year-old Aubrey.

"It's just that…" Aubrey shrugs and reaches up for her ponytail, looking ill at ease. She tugs at her hair. "I miss being your friend. I know we can't…um, be _girl_friends anymore, but I don't understand why you always stay away from me. Is it because you still love me?"

"I'm not answering that question," I coldly inform her, beginning to walk away as the bell finally rings to go to next period. My head is starting to hurt from being around her.

"But…Holly-"

"No," I yell over my shoulder, walking faster so I can get to my locker on time. People have started to stream into the hallways, and I'm doing my best to fight back the tears beginning to form in my eyes. "No, I _don't _still love you."

I don't know if she says anything next, but what I _do _know from looking back over my shoulder briefly is that on her face afterwards was a pained expression.

Why would she have a pained expression on her face about what I told her when she's supposedly happy dating Irving?

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_**Gretchen**_

One might say that eavesdropping on other people's conversation was rude. Others might say it's just plain insolent. Whatever it is, I did it, and do it all the time nowadays. I often try to listen in on some of my former friends' conversations. Some are a waste of my time. Others are pretty interesting. Others are just stupid, like the one I'm listening to now.

"No," Holly is yelling. Her voice is starting to get faint as she walks away, and I have to press my ear harder against the air vent underneath the bleachers I live in to listen to the rest. "No, I _don't_…"

I don't hear the rest, thankfully, and I release my ear from the wall, rolling my eyes and taking out a new cigarette. God. The stupid conversations my friends have make it seem like we're on a dramatic television show. It's so ludicrous.

After being sure that no one is in the gym for class or whatever, I quickly step out and run over to the heavy gym doors. Remembering to put away my unlit cigarette, I stuff it into my boot, push the doors open, and step out into the hallway.

Yes. I still walk out here sometimes. I just never actually go to my assigned classes. Plus, people don't recognize me, so that's a definite advantage. Not to mention that they appear to be angst-ridden over the sight of me. Such feeble ones, these people.

I do my usual route around the school, walking around first to the math and science wing, then the history wing, then English, ignoring all of the stares, whispers, and points. When I get to the Languages wing, though, I stop suddenly at the sight of a girl I _really _don't like.

Emily Kinney. And she, of course, is standing beside and chatting with Ferb, who just so happens to be my ex-boyfriend.

My fists start to clench at the sight of her perfect, fluffy, long blond hair and blue bow that looks like something a kid would wear while still in elementary school. Not to mention she's wearing those perfect, polished clothes and shoes, and her makeup (which is barely anything) is perfect, and she has the perfect, to-die-for British accent, and she's so strong and confident and brave and smart and has the perfect boyfriend.

To sum it up: She's perfect. And that really pisses me off.

But the thing I hate most about her? _Everyone _likes her. Do some more than others? Yes, definitely. I don't think Lilly's a big fan of her, for instance. But _everyone else _thinks that she's this wonderful, beautiful angel that just fell from the sky and is parading through our school.

Including Isabella. My best friend before Emily came to town from Jolly Olde England.

Isabella thought we were still the friends we were in elementary school at the beginning of this year? _Hell, _no. Emily filled in that role, and why? Because she just so happened to be Ferb's cute little friend from 'across the pond', and I'm sure Isabella thought that it would somehow in some weird twisted way lead her to becoming closer with Phineas or something pathetic like that. Or maybe she just wanted to get away from me. Who knows?

And, well, if the latter was her ambition, it certainly worked. Isabella started to ignore me, making up these lies about how she had 'family things' and how she couldn't study with me. It turns out that she was spending the time we normally did with each other with Emily instead. And since Isabella is too nice of a person to admit that that happened when Irving informed me of it (I still can't figure out how _he _knew that…), she just said that she wanted to make Emily feel welcome in Danville.

Uh huh. And leave me out of the circle and lie to me. Yeah, that sounds like a great plan, Miss I-Want-Phineas-To-Fall-In-Love-With-Me.

This whole cycle continued from the summer before fifth grade to the summer before this year. Seven years. And all that time, Isabella thought we were still best friends? Ha. That's almost something to laugh about. We haven't been best friends since the summer Phineas and Ferb started to invent.

And all because of Emily Kinney. Oh, gosh. That name itself makes me shudder.

I'm currently leaning against a wall, one foot propped up and arms crossed, and giving her my best glare. But of course, she doesn't see it. All she does is chat with Ferb for a few more seconds and then walks into the nearest classroom. French. Oh, great. Because she just wants to be _more _perfect.

But whatever. To conclude, all of this, Isabella leaving me for Emily and therefore causing me to hate both of them, but Emily more, leads to my new appearance. Why did I even do it? Did I want to do it? Do I think it helped Isabella realize just what she had done?

Yes to all of the above. I believe it finally made her realize all of the emotions that were building up inside of me all of those years. After all of those years of looking at Idyllic Emily, my emotions were finally coming out onto the outside.

And I, dare I say it, am extremely proud of myself.

As for Emily going out with Ferb, let me tell you something else. I…really…don't…care. What people don't seem to remember is that _I _told Ferb he could go out with her. Why did I do that? Because I knew that because the greenhead was superlative in many things compared to others, just like Emily, they would be a better couple than he and I ever would be. The only real difference between them is that Ferb is actually truly likable whereas Emily just begs for attention. And Emily is a lot more talkative.

Now you're wincing at just how malicious I'm being to her, I'm sure. Good.

"Excuse me."

Startled, I look up from looking down at the floor and thinking about my hatred for a particular person, and my eyes widen. It's Ferb. Hastily, I move over. "Sorry," I mutter, allowing him to pass through and attempting to hide my face at the same time. Unlike a majority of people in this school, Ferb's actually pretty observant.

He does pass through, but not before giving me a close look. "It's…okay," he replies. But that's when he stops. Crud. That's not good. "Do I…know you?"

Oh, fudge. "Maybe," I decide to reply. "Though I probably don't look familiar to you."

He blinks several times. "Well…" He hesitates. "I…can't say I recognize you."

_Thank you, God. _I don't even know how I would explain all of…_this _to him without completely dissing his girlfriend. That wouldn't be good. "Very well."

Before he can reply, I turn swiftly on my heels and begin to walk back to the gym and under the bleachers, where at least I don't have to worry about anyone recognizing me.

And I also don't have to worry about seeing a certain person that stole my best friend.

**Next Chapter Preview: Lilly finally meets her tutor when he approaches her in the hallway. Savannah gets some more information about what she's doing next summer.**

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**Yep, I actually got this one up pretty quickly this time. You're welcome.**

**So, a few questions I've been getting were answered in this, about why Gretchen became the way she is. Did it surprise any of you just how much she hates Emily and why she did what she did to Isabella? I hope I didn't make that too sudden…after all, I _did _kind of make an implication towards that in the beginning of this story when she reveals herself to Isabella. But one question remains unanswered…why she's living under the bleachers and not at her house. That will come up much later.**

**And yes, Holly still loves Aubrey even though they've broken up. I've never been through a breakup, let alone a relationship, so I hope her continuing feelings are realistic. If they're not, then I apologize. But really, I don't know this stuff. I don't know what it's like for someone not in your family to love you. I'm sure it's a wonderful feeling, but I haven't gone through it. After all, I _am _only fourteen and still somewhat immature about that sort of thing. I've only had crushes on people that I'm sure have never been reciprocated. So if I'm not writing these relationships well or realistically, please tell me. I like to know this stuff in advance so I don't keep messing up.**

**So…yeah. Tell me what you thought of this chapter, if you would be so kind. As I've said before, I appreciate any form of feedback I get.**


	25. The Supposedly Nameless Tutor

_**Friday, December 8, 2:21 PM**_

_**History Class**_

_**Lilly**_

Someone shoot me now.

Twice to be sure I'm dead.

"Many kids of your age do not appear to know this, mainly because they just don't care to hear it," Mr. Hollinger is saying as he walks slowly around the classroom, hands deep inside his pockets of his khaki pants. "But you should know that Russia was not always known as Russia. In fact, until 1991, it was known as the Soviet Union along with about 14 other countries. As a result of the 1917 Revolution…"

_Zzzzzz, _I'm texting to Katie, who is sitting on the opposite side of the room with Milly and Savannah. The latter has her head down on the desk, and the former is clearly struggling to keep her eyes open, head propped against her fist and constantly yawning. Katie, on the other hand, appears to be wide awake, clothes polished, hair neatly braided as usual.

She turns and grins at me before replying. _IKR?_

_How r u still UP? _I hold one palm of my hand up into the air as I look at her.

Within seconds, she replies, biting her lip lightly. _Meh. IDK. Probably from looking at Phineas. _She smiles slightly right afterwards and attempts to hide it.

I roll my eyes. _U STILL luv him?_

The blond blushes, and it's obvious since her hair is so light in comparison to the red on her cheeks. _I do NOT love him. _

_Uh huh._

She scowls and shoots me a small glare. _I DON'T. It's a stupid crush that I'm trying to get over, because I know Isabella's like madly in love w/ him. It's just hard, ok?_

"Ahem."

Startled, I look up, and sure enough, there's Mr. Hollinger, no longer talking about crap and standing in the front of the room, frowning. Katie's eyes widen as he continues to talk, tone getting more sarcastic with every syllable.

"So…Lillian Carlson and Katherine Marquette. You are choosing to text in my classroom."

"Yep," I decide to reply, crossing my arms and shooting him a smug look. My phone is still proudly displayed on top of the desk. Katie shoots me an irritated glance, but I pretend not to see it.

"Do you girls know," Mr. Hollinger says slowly as he walks through the various aisles, taking turns between looking at me and at my friend. "What the school policy for cell phones is?"

Neither of us says anything. I know that with whatever answer I give him, he won't be satisfied, and Katie's too much of a good girl to mess up in front of a teacher. Frankly, I don't know _how_ I even convinced her to text in class.

"Hold on." The whole class turns and stares at this one guy with wavy brown hair that sits in the center of the second row. "Isn't the school policy for cell phones to not have them out at all unless a teacher directly says it's okay?"

Whoa, hold on. Since when was _he _involved in this conversation? Plus, I don't think I've ever even seen him before. He's that kind of kid that never says anything, yet is like the smartest one in the class. I hate people like that, because it's like they don't even try compared to the rest of us. It's so unfair.

"Yes," Mr. Hollinger informs him, seeming to be as surprised as the rest of us. "Thank you… Darren." He returns his attention to Katie and I, or, in particular, me. Katie could not look more afraid right now. "Did I give either of you ladies permission to use your cell phones in my classroom?"

"No," Katie squeaks. Milly and Phineas are shooting her sympathetic looks, and I think Savannah is more asleep than a bear hibernating in winter right now.

"And I assume neither of you want to be kicked out of this classroom?"

"No-" Katie begins, but I interrupt her.

"Actually, I would _love_ that."

The kids in class all react in some way. If they're like Phineas, then they just blink and wonder what in the world is going on because the event that is going on isn't positive and happy and cheerful. If they're like Katie and Milly, then they gasp and wonder why she said that. If they're like Savannah, which includes one other kid in the class, then their eyes open just a crack and they have forgotten where they even are. If they're like that smart kid that I already forget the name of, then they do nothing.

Mr. Hollinger raises his eyebrows high above his head, but before he can respond to my statement, the final bell of the day rings. He gives one final glare to both Katie and I as everyone starts to scurry around and get all of their stuff into their backpacks. "Don't think I'm done with the both of you," he threatens, jabbing his finger into my face.

Calmly, I move it away. "Back off, Bald Shirley." As I leave him gaping at me and then feeling his head, which is bald except for a few curls in random places on the sides of his head, I exit the room and wheel myself into the hallway, where my locker sits not too far away.

Katie, as soon as she leaves the room, immediately heads my way. Even before she makes it to me, she starts talking. "Are you _insane_?" she exclaims as I open the locker and quietly stick my books and stuff in there. I have English homework, but there's no way I'm doing _that_. I have far more important things to do. If testing out new makeup brands are important things to do, which in my case, they are. "Lilly, we could have been sent to the _office _for that!"

"Yeah," I snort, tossing my hair that keeps getting into my face over my shoulder. "Like I care. Teddy's lame when it comes to punishing, from what I've heard."

"Still." She shakes her head and sighs, hitching her backpack over her shoulder. Damn. She didn't even make a comment about what I just called the principal. "It was scary. And, well, I've got to get to my locker and make it to the bus on time. Dance class is an hour early today because we have to rehearse for this concert thing and-."

"Go, then." I'm getting tired of talking to her. When she starts rambling, I zone out and then fall asleep, which ticks her off. So now I just send her away when that happens. It works every time.

"Thanks." She scurries off, and I roll my eyes irritably as I slam the locker shut and shove my bag underneath my wheelchair. Turning it around, I don't even make it one inch farther when I've bumped into somebody. Again.

"What the _hell_," I mutter angrily before looking up. I blink when I realize that it's the awkward smart kid from my history class. When the kid doesn't even say anything after about ten seconds, I try scooting my chair forward. "Yo."

Finally, he glances down, and his eyes widen. "Oh, sorry," he says, moving over to allow me to pass through.

"Thank you." I begin to roll my wheelchair forward.

"Wait," he cuts in, stopping me by placing his hand on one of the arms of the chair. "So, uh, sorry about what I said in class. It might have come off as somewhat arrogant. I'm sorry."

"Puh-lease." I brush his comment off with a wave of my hand in the air and decide to keep moving forward slowly. So slowly and imperceptibly, he'll barely notice. "That was _barely _what you would call arrogant."

"Well, that's good. So, um…" He hesitates. "I don't think we've really had a conversation before. I've been meaning to talk with you lately, though."

I raise an eyebrow. "Says the person that's more quiet than two old people sitting at a table outside playing some random card game that are so highly concentrated in the said game that they aren't noticing all of the little kids by them that are trying to kill themselves in the nearby swimming pool."

Wavy Brown-Haired Kid frowns slightly, shuffling his feet a little bit. Of course, he's carrying his stuffed-full-of-homework backpack with him. Nerd. "Gosh. You're meaner than what people give you credit for."

I snort, still rolling my wheelchair ever so slowly. "Oh, come on. That wasn't mean at _all_. You should _see _the things I say to people sometimes."

"Whatever." He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. Clearly, he doesn't appreciate how I respond to people. How rude of him to think that way. "But as I was _saying_ before you interrupted me, I wanted to talk with you about something. You know how Mr. Bear signed you up for tutoring since you were out of school for a month?" He looks at my wheelchair before looking back up at my face.

What? How does _this _guy know about that?

"Well, I'm your tutor." He says this in a smug tone.

Oh. Well…duh. Now I feel stupid. "Oh," I say after blinking and mentally smacking myself in the head. "All right, then."

"So…when do you want to meet for the first time? Basically…when are you available?"

I shrug, finally stopping the wheelchair and turning around to face him. "God, I don't know. I'm alwaysbusy. Unlike a majority of people in this school, I actually have a life outside of homework and studying. I know, it's _so _insanely shocking."

He rolls his eyes, and he mutters something under his breath that I can't understand. But I don't bother to question since I figure he'll just make up some kind of dumb excuse instead of the actual answer. "You know what?" he finally says after about a minute. "Why don't I just come to your place on a Saturday or something in a few weeks?"

"Whatever." Anything to get this guy to stop talking to me. "You want my phone number? And my address, I assume? Or are you just going to use some brilliant compass thing in your head that tells you _exactly _where to go at all times, because that's how all the smart people do it nowadays?"

He ignores my sarcasm and instead crosses his arms. "Actually…Mr. Bear gave both to me already. All I had to do was come talk to you, and oh, look at that. Now I am."

…I really do not know how to reply to what this guy just told me. "Uh…okay…"

"So I'll call you sometime, and we can schedule a time for us to meet so you can make up your work."

"Okay, great. Fantastic. Can I _go _now?" I'm aware of how rue I'm sounding, but I really don't give a crap.

He sighs. "Yeah. Go."

"Good." Right as I'm about to leave, however, I don't. Instead, I look back behind me, where he remains standing, and I decide to ask him something so I don't keep calling him the same thing in my head. Wavy Brown-Haired Kid is too long of a moniker. "Hey, by the way, what's your name again?"

His face brightens slightly, probably because I'm actually acknowledging his existence. He still has an annoyed look on his face, though. "It's Darren. And if you want to know my last name, it's Dowell. Just in case you have to look me up in the phone book or something."

Phone books still exist nowadays? I thought people stopped using those in like the nineteen seventies. "…Kay. Thanks." And finally, I spin that chair around and begin moving it towards the exit of the school specifically made for the handicapped. Even from here, the far end of the hallway across from that door, I can see my uncle's car parked right against the curb. He won't be in there for a few more minutes, though. He finally returned to work here as a music teacher about two weeks ago, and teachers have to stay until this certain time of the day every day. I don't really care about waiting a little longer, though. For once, my uncle Don is actually in a good mood. And I'm happy about that.

By the way…yes, we have gotten a new car since the accident, just in case you didn't already assume that. And yes. It has a handicapped section.

* * *

_**The Schumacher Residence, 6:35 PM**_

_**Savannah**_

Oh, great. Mom's using the phone. She _hates _using the cell phone we have, because every time we use it, we have to pay a fee because the company we get it from is stupid. This can't be good.

"Mmm-hmm," I hear her mutter as I slowly sit myself down at the table, where some grilled cheese sandwiches and bowls full of tomato soup are sitting. "I see. Yes, I will talk with her about it. Thanks for calling." She turns the phone off and faces me, and I quickly start eating and acting like I've done it for a while. She doesn't stop looking at me though, and after about a minute, I sigh and finish swallowing.

"What?" I wonder.

Mom sighs before taking a seat next to me at the little, round table we have and grabbing a half of a sandwich. "That was your principal," she informs me, dipping it into the soup that more than likely came from a can. "Apparently, he received a complaint from your history teacher stating that you fell asleep in his class."

"What?" I groan, not caring that there's still food in my mouth. "He _saw _that?"

She ignores me. "And since he was dealing with two other girls in the class at the time, he didn't want to interfere with you. So he told the principal, who had to _call _me about it."

I hate when she makes me feel bad like this. "Well…sorry…"

"I know you are." She sighs. "But Savannah, you can't fall asleep in class, all right? I don't care if it's boring for you. You _need _to know the material, and-"

"Why?" I interrupt, beginning to frown as I dip the spoon into the soup. "_Why _do I need to know that material? It's not like we can afford to send me to go to college. You yourself told me that I could work for your business thing in the future if it's successful after this year."

Yes. She actually did say that. And I, for some reason, accepted to do so.

"Well, yeah." She shrugs. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do well in school."

"Whatever."

"But you reminded me." Mom stands up and walks over to this little basket on the counter, where we keep all of our papers and important information. "I got some info on the family you're staying at next summer."

Oh. Right. I almost forgot that I was actually _participating_ in this thing before I could start working for it. I make a face when I know that she can't see it since her head is practically jammed inside of the basket.

"Let's see…where _is _that paper?" She rustles through some more papers before finally holding one up. "There it is." Walking back over to the table, she places the paper in front of me and continues to talk as I pretend to read it. "It's a five-person family, and all of them are at least in their teens. Remember, one of them, also a teenaged girl, is coming out here for the summer similar to the way it will work for you."

Well, at least it means I have to deal with one less stranger. That's a good thing.

"There's two other teenaged girls, one your age and one a little younger. They also have an older brother who just…doesn't have anywhere else to go. And they have a mom."

I scratch the top of my head. I'm already kind of confused, and this was barely any information. "Does this have…names or anything about them or whatever? That would be kind of helpful to know." Because if I'm going to live with random people I don't want to live with for a whole summer miles away from Danville, then I kind of want to know what they're like before I get there. Even if I won't get there for another six and a half months.

"Oh…right." She adjusts her seat in the chair, looking somewhat sheepish. "Here. Their surname is Reid, but the mother prefers to be called Cass. Apparently, she's a writer, and a bestselling one, too." Her face brightens. "How nice. It's what I wanted to be as a kid."

_Well, look how far _that _got you_, I think, but decide not to say out loud. "Cool," I say instead even though I don't mean it.

"They don't provide much information about the kids, though. One of the girls is Cheyenne, and she's your age, and the other is Melanie, who is sixteen. The guy is…Reed, and he is twenty-three-"

"Whoa, hold up," I interrupt. "This guy's name is _Reed Reid?_" I snort. "How pathetic."

She smiles as I try not to snicker and fail at doing so. "It was his father's idea. I wondered about that too, so I asked Cass about it. Apparently, he dared Cass to put it on his birth certificate, and sure enough, she did." Her smile falters a little. "They're divorced now."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that." I take my last bite of my sandwich.

"So, yeah, that's all of the information they gave me. Cass and I are still communicating now, and she says that everyone's excited about having you there."

I raise an eyebrow. "They're excited to have _me _there? What's so great about _me?_"

She narrows her eyes at me. "Don't get acerbic in your tone, Savannah," she warns. "They really are. Apparently, their town is kind of small, so to have anyone new come is just a new thing. They really are happy this is happening, honey."

I bite my lip and decide not to respond, instead picking at my soup with my spoon. It's starting to get cold; I can tell from the way there isn't any more steam coming out of it. Mom suddenly realizes what she has said, and her tone softens. "Look, honey, I realize I should have talked to you about this before committing you to it. I know you don't want to be away from your friends right before a majority of them leave for school, but…it's a little late now."

Gee, thanks, Mom. Thanks for all of your sympathy. "It's not like most of them will notice I'm gone, anyway," I mutter.

"What?"

"Nothing," I sigh, still playing with the soup. It's now starting to smell weird, too, and I wrinkle my nose.

"Savannah." Now it's her turn to sigh. She tries to reach over and grab my hand, but I don't let her, shoving my hand into the pocket out of my gray hoodie. I hate it when people touch me for reasons I don't like to say, and my mom knows it. "Honey, please. I know you're upset that I brought that up again, the whole exchange thing, but I was hoping you would sort of change your view about it-"

"Well, guess what," I interject, now rising from the table. "You didn't."

Her face falls. "I just…I don't know," she falters, beginning to blink repeatedly. "I figured you would be happy for me, starting this business and finally getting us out of frickin' _poverty_. But you're _not_-"

"Mom." She stops talking, and I take a step closer to her and rest my hands on her shoulder blades, staring into her brownish-green hazel eyes. "I _am _happy for you. What I'm _not _happy about is having to do something for it that I _really _don't want to do."

"I know." She bites the inside of her cheek. "And I'm sorry. But there's nothing I can do about it now."

"I _know_, Mom," I moan, sitting back down at the table. "Quit telling me stuff like that I already know. It's irritating, not to mention kind of…oh, I know. _Irritating._"

"Did you just say that twice?"

"_Mom_."

"What?" She looks offended. "What did I do wrong _this_ time?"

"_Nothing_, Mom. Okay?" God, she's frustrating when she wants to be. I roll my eyes and then look down at our plates. They are now completely clean except for a few stray crumbs. "Can I go now?"

She sighs for the umpteenth time in the past ten minutes. "Yeah."

"Thank you."

I only have to walk a few feet to get to my tiny bedroom, but even though my tiny bedroom has the thinnest walls ever invented and a really shabby carpet (which really shows how expensive our apartment was), it's still a lot better than being around my mom all of the time.

Believe me…if you were me, you would think the _exact _same thing. But at least it's better than still being around the bastard I used to call my dad.

And_ that's _another story for another time.

**Next Chapter Preview: Adyson confronts Django about how he's been avoiding her. Phineas gives a long rant to Ferb about something that you may be surprised about.**

* * *

**Yep. Savannah has problems with her mom, too.**

**I'm surprised more of you guys haven't wondered more about Savannah and her whole story. Probably because she doesn't appear nearly as often as some of the other characters. But the reason for that is because as you know already, I'm writing a story about her time in the exchange program after I finish this one, and it's all from her perspective, so I don't want to put _too _much focus on her in_ this _story. Make sense? Cool.**

**And now we've met Lilly's new tutor. He kind of reminds me of this one guy I know…in fact, yeah, I can say Darren is slightly based off of him. Quiet, yet kind of cocky…ahem. Anyway. So I have to wonder _just _how this whole tutoring thing is going to go for the two of them. Maybe one day, they won't resent each other the way they do now. Who knows, right?**


	26. Two Different Kinds of Breaks

_**Sunday, December 10, 7:00 AM**_

_**The Brown Residence**_

_**Django**_

Seven AM on a Sunday.

This is normally the time when I would be leaving the house and walking a couple of blocks over to Phineas and Ferb's house for their great invention of the day. Since they can't do big inventions during the school week, unfortunately, they have to do them only on the weekends. Right now, Phineas is probably explaining everything to the rest of my friends about what they're going to be doing, and then in about a minute, he'll be asking where Perry is.

But today, I'm not going to be there to see either of those things happen, because I'm staying home.

Why, you may ask? Well, when you spend a whole night not sleeping and instead lying on your back and staring at the ceiling and thinking the way they always do in the movies, then you'll understand why I decided to opt out of the day's activity for the day. I know that there's no way I'm going to be able to get out of bed at this rate.

With a groan, I roll over, but it isn't until it's too late when I realize that I'm rolling over on the wrong side. Within two seconds, I'm sprawled out onto the floor, blanket and all. "UGH," I moan loudly, kicking at nothing in particular.

My dad peeks into the room, toothbrush in his hand and bathrobe on. There are both advantages _and_ disadvantages to having your room right next to the bathroom. In this case, it's definitely the latter. "You all right, son?" he wonders, lingering behind the doorway. He knows how crabby I can be in the morning when I haven't gotten any sleep.

I don't respond, instead just rolling my eyes and burying my head underneath the blanket that fell with me.

"Sorry." He chuckles in a somewhat nervous way. "Uh…dumb question." He doesn't leave, though, instead walking back into the bathroom and putting the toothbrush back, then coming back and sitting on my bed, peering down at me. "Really though, buddy, what's gotten into you? Aren't you usually at your friends' place by now?"

"Yeah," I mumble. I bite my lip, which is insanely dry. "I don't want to talk about it."

"It's not…" He lowers his tone, and after glancing out into the hallway as if someone could actually be listening (Mom's always in the kitchen at this time), turns back to me. "Adyson, is it? Are you guys doing…all right?"

I can tell by the tone in his voice that he's starting to get really uncomfortable. "We're…" I hesitate, not knowing how to continue, and decide to sit myself up. After touching my cheek, I realize with embarrassment that I have stubble and try to hide it with the blanket. "…Not doing so well."

His face falls. "Really?"

I nod, starting to feel more and more like a loser. The blanket is still partially covering my face. "Yeah. I've…kind of ignored her."

Dad just continues to sit there, doing nothing but blinking. "Well…I don't really know how to help you there. But why are you ignoring her?"

"Dad. My girlfriend's _pregnant_, and I'm not the dad." I glare at him. "How would you feel if that happened to_ you_? Pretty crappy, right?"

He bites his lip, looking slightly hurt by my tone. He shuffles a little bit in his seat. "Yeah…but Django, did you _tell_ her you were okay with it?"

"Uh…yeah. But I-"

"And you say you've been ignoring her?"

"Uh…yeah. But-"

"You need to talk to her, buddy." Dad then stands up and begins to walk over to the doorway, but not before giving me another look. This time, his face displays a look of disappointment. "She's probably confused and scared about all of this, and you doing that isn't going to help. At all." He then gives me another close look, and I realize that the blanket isn't covering my face anymore. I hastily make that happen as he chuckles lightly. "Make sure to call her. And then, of course, shave. You don't want to look like a gorilla by the end of the week, do ya?"

My cheeks flame. I hate when he tries to be comedic at the wrong times. "_Dad_."

"Sorry, sorry." He holds his hands up and quickly scurries into the bathroom. Within a few seconds, the lock clicks, and also within a few seconds, I'm holding my cell phone and am at my contact list, touching Adyson's name. I take a very deep breath before holding it up to my ear, waiting for her response. I don't even know if she's at Phineas and Ferb's or not, so she may or may not pick up.

"Django?"

I nearly jump in my seat after hearing her voice, also beginning to smile. She sounds surprised. "Uh, hey, Ad. How are you-"

"Django. Brown." All of a sudden, she sounds angry, and the smile wipes right off of my face. She doesn't sound good. "Next time I see you, I am _so _going to kick your _frickin' _ass."

My eyes widen, and I gulp. Uh oh. "Hey, okay, but-"

"Do you know how _long _it's been since you've talked to me?" Now she's full out screaming, and I hold the phone away from my ear. "Where the hell _are _you? How long has it been? Hmm…I don't know? A _month_?"

I wince as I put the phone back in its proper place by my ear. "Ad, let me explain. It's complicated-"

"Oh, really?" She sounds more and more sarcastic with every syllable. "So complicated that you couldn't support your pregnant girlfriend and instead started to ignore her. That's just great. You know, if you're not okay with all of this, that's fine, but I kind of want to _know _that. Is this making _any _sense to you?"

I keep quiet. I have a feeling that she wouldn't like what I want to tell her.

"Well?" she demands.

I take an intake of breath. "Well…yeah, it _does _make sense," I say quietly. "All of what you said is true."

I can picture her rolling her eyes. "Well, for God's sake, Django, why didn't you _say _anything?" Her voice is shrill as well as trembling. "Why you didn't you just tell me how you _really_ felt when I told you what happened to me? Then we wouldn't be having this dumbass conversation."

I honestly don't have a good answer to that question. "I…don't really know," I say after hesitating. "I really don't. But you know I'm sorry, right?"

Adyson sighs, and I can hear her moving something aside, likely to sit down on. I think I can safely assume at this point that she's not at Phineas and Ferb's. "I do," she says quietly, sounding like she's about to cry. "But what's really upsetting me about all of this is you weren't honest with me. You said you were _okay _with this. I thought you were one of my only real supporters, not just someone that felt sorry for me like a lot of our other friends. Really, only Vienna, Isabella, Phineas, Ferb, and my brother have really supported me, especially Isabella. In fact, I'm staying at her house as we speak."

My eyes go wide. Oh no. "Oh my God. Your mom didn't-"

"She did," she interrupts, and my heart sinks as she continues. "But you wouldn't _know _that, because you refused to talk to me for the past month."

All right. Now I'm getting mad. I stand up and begin to randomly walk around my room. "I didn't know what to _say _to you," I tell her finally, moving my free hand in random motions everywhere even though she can't see it. "Not to mention it's embarrassing."

"Um, embarrassing?" Great. Now I've pissed her off again. She lets out a laugh that's obviously fake. "_Embarrassing? _How have _I _been embarrassing _you_? I really think it's the other way around."

Uh…what? "_Excuse_ me?"

"You heard me. Whenever I walk in the hallways, those stupid sophomore cheerleaders Daphne, Morgan, and Julianne keep taunting me about where my boyfriend is. 'Where's your boyfriend?' one of them will say, and I have to reply that he doesn't seem to care."

"Doesn't seem to care?" Now I'm actually laughing. "_Doesn't seem to care? _That's hilarious. I _do_. Oh, and by the way, do you know the kind of looks _I _get from people? People actually think _I'm _the dad when _you're _the one who screwed up and went off with that guy."

Adyson's voice sounds tight when she responds, not to mention angry. "You take that back, Django. _You take that back_. You _know _it wasn't my fault what happened."

"Actually, no, I don't. How am I supposed to know whether or not you were telling the truth? You could have been cheating on me behind my back for God knows how long, and you just _now _messed up." I'm well aware that I'm entering risky territory here, but I don't stop, beginning to yell. "I'm tired of getting blamed for _your _mistakes. I'm also tired of people bashing me because they think _I'm _the one who knocked you up!"

"Well, of _course _they do, you frickin' idiot!" she retorts. "You're my boyfriend…or so I thought."

Oh no. Oh no. I suddenly realize that I've gone too far. "Ad, wait. I didn't mean-"

"You suck." I realize now that she's crying while yelling. "You frickin' _suck_, Django. And to think I thought that I would actually have more than five people not pitying me or kicking me out of the damn house. Turns out, I was wrong." She chuckles. "Oh, _so _wrong."

I hang my head in shame as I slink down into a sitting position. I've really messed up this time, and I know it. "I'm sorry-"

"Shut up. I never want to talk to you again." She hesitates before speaking again. "We're over."

I gape. "Adyson-"

And just like that, she hangs up.

* * *

_**The Flynn-Fletcher Residence a few minutes later**_

_**Phineas**_

Everyone around us is bored.

Yes, that's right, bored. Want to know why? Because I can't think of any new inventions.

Currently, I'm sitting at my old, turning-rotten wooden desk with some blank blueprints in front of me, hands on my head and staring at them blankly. Ferb is behind me, looking concerned, but I'm ignoring him and the others (that are sitting under the tree) to the best of my ability and am thinking hard. Somehow, I can still do this even when others are complaining loudly.

"Yo, Dinner Bell," Buford is yelling. "Ya almost done there?"

"My hair's getting frizzy!" Ginger whines. "The cold is _not _good for curled hair. Or my new shoes my sister got me. Man, Stacy's going to kill me."

"Oh my gosh," Irving is gasping into his camera, which is positioned so it's directly in front of his face. "Phineas Flynn is running out of ideas. Is this…the end of…Phineas and Ferb… _as we know them_?"

I turn around. "Guys, it's okay," I shout to the other end of the yard, where all of my friends except for Adyson and Django are sitting. "I'm still thinking."

"Yeah, guys, it's all right," Isabella says, smiling at me. I smile back before turning and thinking as hard as I possibly can. However, I'm still drawing a blank. What _haven't _we done by now?

"Gosh, Ferb, I don't know," I moan, and he snaps back into reality and stares at me as I continue to talk. "Can _you _think of anything we haven't done yet?"

He thinks for a second before shaking his head, giving me a look at the same time.

"Right, right, I know, you're not usually the one that comes up with what we're gonna do today." I bite my lip. "But-"

I'm interrupted by the sound of someone gasping. I turn around and see that Isabella has clapped a hand over her mouth and is staring in horror at her cell phone. "Oh no," she breathes.

"What?" we all wonder simultaneously.

"It's Adyson and Django." Her hand is still over her mouth, but it's now partially uncovered so that we can hear her. "Apparently, they broke up."

"No way!" Vienna gasps. Her mouth is hanging open.

"Yep." Isabella nods, and then sighs. "I _knew _I should have stayed home today…you know, maybe I should get going. I have a feeling that she's going to need a friend right now. V, you can come, too." Vienna nods, and she glances at Lilly. "Maybe you could go visit Django…he probably will, too…"

"Yeah, probably," Lilly agrees. She glances uncertainly at the rest of us. "Anyone else want to come if I call Django and he says we can come over?"

"I will," Baljeet says, standing up.

Lilly scrunches up her face. "Well…" She hesitates. "All right."

"Thank you." Baljeet then looks expectantly at Buford, and he sighs and stands up as well.

"Guess I will, too," he grunts, glaring at his frenemy. "Though it ain't _my _decision."

"Fair enough." She pulls out her cell phone and turns it on. "Anyone else?"

We all shake our heads. "I would," I tell her truthfully. "Same with Adyson, Isabella. But Ferb and I need to stay here and try to think of some more ideas."

Isabella and Lilly both nod, and with that, they, Vienna, Buford and Baljeet silently walk/wheel out of the yard. My girlfriend is the last one out, and she closes the door on the fence that leads to the backyard, but not before shooting me another small smile.

When the door latches shut, I immediately turn towards those remaining, which are Irving, Emily, Aubrey, Holly, Ginger, Savannah, Katie, and Milly. "Okay, guys," I begin, getting up from my chair and walking straight over to them. Ferb follows silently behind me. "So you know how Ferb and I are…um, drawing a blank today on what we should invent?"

"No, we've just been sitting here doing nothing for the past twenty minutes for no reason," Ginger sarcastically replies.

Savannah crosses her arms and glares at her. "Hey. They know what they're doing. You don't need to be a bitch about them not knowing what they want to do."

Ginger glares right back. "Well, considering the fact that my shoes are sucking in cold air and therefore getting dry and losing the wax that I did on them yesterday, I think I have every right to be annoyed. Oh, and by the way, your hoodie is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen."

Savannah glances down at her hoodie. There's nothing really wrong with it. It's just a basic, gray zip-up hoodie. "You think _this _is the most ridiculous thing you've ever seen?" she asks her ex-best friend.

"Uh…_yeah_," Ginger says with a _duh _expression. She tosses her curled black hair over her shoulder and rolls her eyes.

"Well." Savannah laughs. "Clearly, you haven't looked in the mirror recently."

"Ooookay," I interject as Ginger's mouth falls open. I'm not willing to hear any more insults, so I clear my throat. "Let's get back to what we were talking about earlier, shall we?"

"Yes, _please,_" Holly informs me. I notice that her eyes are currently fixated on Aubrey and Irving, who are holding hands. She sighs, and then drifts her attention back to Ferb and I.

"Yes," Emily agrees, shuffling a bit in her seat. "That would definitely be the best thing right now."

"All right, then." I clap my hands together. "Does anyone here have _any _ideas?"

Aubrey raises her hand. "Can we take a trip to Fairy-Tale Land?" she chirps, eyes bright and excited the way they are the majority of the time. She looks at me expectantly.

I look at her sympathetically. "No, Aubrey, we can't," I say gently. "We went there a few years ago for your birthday, remember?"

Her face falls. "Oh." She sighs. "That's right. I forgot."

"That's okay, Aubrey. Maybe another time." I smile at her before looking back at the others. "Anyone else?"

"Maybe we can move Danville to another location on the map?" Milly suggests. "Like, take the whole Tri-State Area and move it to, I don't know, somewhere in Europe? Just for a sort of, I don't know, change in the system?"

Everyone looks at her strangely. Katie coughs.

"What?" Now she looks offended. "It's different. We haven't done it before."

"Well…Milly, we would probably have to, uh, get permission from the mayor before doing something like that, since it's the whole Tri-State Area we're talking about. And we unfortunately don't, uh, have time for that," I inform her, scratching my ear.

She shrugs. "Well, it was worth a shot."

"Anyone else?" I ask.

A minute or so passes, and no one says a peep. Irving, Katie, Milly, and Emily are clearly thinking the hardest, and Aubrey looks as if she is daydreaming about something. Holly is just sitting there with a blank expression on her face, and Ginger and Savannah are still giving each other dirty looks.

"Come on, guys," I plead. "We can do this, I know we can."

"Phineas," Ferb mutters quietly to me so the others won't hear. "Maybe they really _can't _think of anything. You _are_ usually the one to come up with the inventions while everyone else, including myself, helps you initiate that idea."

I rub the temples on my head. "But bro, I…really don't know what to do. The things we've done in the past few weeks were my last ideas that I could come up with on demand. Now…I'm lost."

He says nothing in reply. However, he still has that concerned look passing over onto his face like a shadow.

"It's just…" I sigh. "For the past eight years, we've been making these awesome ideas come to life. We've been a team, Ferb. I've always been the creator; you've always been the builder. We've made every summer the best summer of our lives since the day we constructed the roller coaster. And even when we entered middle schooland then went through high school, we were _still _a great team. Up till now, we've never run out of ideas or lost our creative streaks. But now…" I glance over at our friends, who are still thinking, determined looks painted on their faces. "I don't know, bro. Maybe this is a sign."

He looks at me quizzically.

"A sign…" I blink repeatedly. "That we should…I don't know…stop inventing."

His eyes widen. His look says, _What?_

"I know, I know, it's a bit of an impulsive thing to say."

Now, as he crosses his arms, his look says, _Gee. You think?_

"But Ferb, if we can't come up with anything new to do…what's the point of continuing?" I look at him sadly. "Think about it. Maybe…at the very least, we need to take a break for a while."

My brother bites his lip lightly, so imperceptibly that I almost don't notice it. He shrugs slowly, and I notice with surprise that his eyes are watering.

"Ferb… it's okay." I reach over and hug him, not caring that my eyes are watering, too. "We'll start again eventually, I'm sure. Remember, it's… just a little break." I sniff and hold him tighter.

"Ferb? Phineas?" Emily is calling out. Her tone is filled with worry and alarm. "Are you… alright?"

But neither of us answers, just continuing to hold each other. "It'll be okay," I mutter into my brother's shoulder. I sniff again and struggle not to actually start crying. "It'll be okay."

**Next Chapter Preview: When Aubrey informs Irving of her belief in Santa Claus, he asks the others that don't anymore, like him, what he should do. Obviously, this is everyone but Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet, just for clarification if you don't remember the Christmas episode.**

* * *

**Um…yeah. This is probably my most depressing chapter to date. Adyson/Django breaking up, and then, worst of all, Phineas and Ferb deciding that they need an unknown amount of time to take a break from inventing, the thing they love doing the most. Some very..._unexpected_ things to happen, no? Sorry...lame pun.**

**Next chapter won't be nearly as sad…I'll actually try to make it somewhat comedic. I'll try. After all, Aubrey's one of the main characters in it.**


	27. Irving's Resolution

_**Wednesday, December 13, 10:30 AM**_

_**Danville High School Library**_

_**Irving**_

You just have to love the times when, in the middle of the school day, you can have a free period and do pretty much whatever you want as long as it's school appropriate and you're a junior or a senior. It's great being able to have a little bit of free time in the middle of the school day.

When it comes to what I like doing during that time, I usually just take my giant scrapbook out and look at everything Phineas and Ferb have ever done. It's quite stuffed now, seeing as it has eight years of inventions and fun in it, but when you're a devoted fan, you have to do crazy things to remain one, even after your idols quit what they do. It's just the way life is. Today, however, instead of that, I'm meeting Aubrey at the library for free period. She told me that she needed to talk to me about something _very _important, putting a lot of extra emphasis on _very_.

So I'm currently walking into the library, and as I walk in, I see Aubrey sitting at one of the round tables in the center of the space. She is currently staring in a fixated way at a piece of notebook paper and a pencil in front of her. Her hands are on the sides of her head, and some loose strands are coming out of her ponytail, including some of her dyed color streaks that she recently put in herself, and with actual hair dye. Needless to say, I was impressed when she showed me. "Hey, Aubrey," I greet her, sitting beside her at the table. "What'cha lookin' at?"

She glances up at me and smiles just a little. "Oh, it's nothing much. Just a letter to Santa. I don't want to ask for _too _much, because I know how busy the elves are, but I can't _not _ask for anything, either." She shrugs and once again looks down at the piece of paper. "What do I _do_?"

I chuckle, knowing that she's just kidding around. Sometimes her mind makes her say things that I know she doesn't mean to say. The 'list' in front of her is probably from one of the kids in the kindergarten-aged class she goes to after school to try and learn how to read her letters and numbers better. And to try and learn that M and N are not the same letter. "Well, I don't know. I haven't written to Santa in…" I hesitate as I try to remember what year Phineas and Ferb decorated the town for Christmas in such an extravagant way. "…Eight years?"

Her eyes go wide. "Why not?" she breathes. She's looking at me like one of those realistic looking baby dolls, frozen and still, and her mouth is formed in the shape of an 'o'. If it weren't for the fact that she's eighteen, she could pass as that kind of doll right now with her facial expression. "Don't you want _anything _from Santa this year? Or were you on the naughty list?"

"Wait." I stare at her harder, ignoring both questions. What she's saying is swirling around my head, and I have to actually rub it to get the headache to subside. Sort of. "You still actually write for Santa? You weren't kidding?"

"Well, of course not." Aubrey looks at me like I'm the biggest idiot on Earth, or at least she _tries _to. She has an extremely hard time getting truly upset with someone, since she's just such a…_happy_ person compared to the rest of us. "Why _wouldn't _I write for Santa? After all, he _is _real. Don't you remember that song?" She begins to sing, quietly so that the librarian won't hear and try to shush us. "_He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good, so be good, for goodness' sake!_"

"That song is so creepy," I mutter under my breath to no one in particular. "It makes Santa sound like some weirdo stalker. Who would do something like that, anyway, stalk people?"

"What did you say?" Aubrey wonders.

"Nothing," I quickly reply. I have a feeling that she wouldn't like what I just said.

She looks at me quizzically, but then goes back to her little smile. "Okay."

I breathe a sigh of relief, wiping my forehead as if there's grease on it. Both Phineas and Ferb will do this occasionally, or at least, they did when they were still inventing, so naturally, I picked up the habit as well. "All right. So, um…what exactly did you want to talk to me about that was _very _important?"

"My list," she clarifies, sliding the notebook paper over to me to examine as she continues to talk. "I can't decide what exactly I want, and when I _do _think of something, I can't write it down."

"Why not?"

"I don't know how to write my letters." On her face is a hurt expression. "Remember?"

I mentally smack myself in the head. _Dur, Irving. Gee, way to make your girlfriend feel bad about herself. _"Oh…right. So…what do you want me to do about it?"

"Do about what?"

"Writing your letters." I'm doing my best not to sound impatient even though I actually am, because I know she can't help having short-term memory loss and being unintelligent. Her doctors still can't figure out what exactly is wrong with her, just that it's some kind of brain disorder and that it's incurable. "To Santa?"

_Even though he doesn't exist, _I say in my head. At the same time, I grab Aubrey's hand and direct it over to the notebook paper she had slid over to me before.

Aubrey blinks in surprise at the sight of it, as if she was a dog and she had just found a chew toy that hadn't been seen in months. "Ohhhh. _That _list."

"Yes." I sigh, wishing I was looking at my scrapbook right now. "_That _list."

* * *

_**Several hours later**_

"Phineas, I need to talk to you," I say urgently on my cell phone before he can even say a simple hello. I'm in my bedroom right now at my desk staring at my customized bedspread of you-know-who, and my eye is still twitching from earlier, even after I cover it with my hand.

"Whoa, whoa, Irving, hold on," Phineas laughs. I can hear some noises that sound a lot like people talking, and they keep getting fainter and fainter until I can't hear them anymore. Finally, I hear a door closing, and then he speaks again. "Sorry about that, but Candace and Jeremy are over with Amanda. Ferb and I, well, mostly me, were having a nice conversation with them."

"Oh." I bite my lip and stand up, going over to my bed and sitting down. After a second thought, I go over to my monitoring system and turn the camera to his room on, and sure enough, there he is, just sitting in his chair casually. "Sorry for interrupting you…"

"No problem," Phineas assures me, smiling slightly. "They'll be here until tomorrow morning, anyway, and it's not like Candace will care if I'm on a cell phone for a little while. You know how she is."

"True, very true."

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he wonders. He adjusts his place in his seat a little, and I can see him looking longingly at one of his old blueprints that's hanging on the wall of Ferb's side of the room. After looking closer, I realize that it's the one for the rollercoaster.

I take a deep breath. "It's Aubrey," I inform him, and he nods thoughtfully. "See…she still wants to write letters to Santa."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." I chuckle. "Isn't it ridiculous? I mean, she's eighteen, not four. You would think she had grown out of that kind of thing by now."

Phineas appears to be confused, eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Ridiculous? No, not at all. It's great that she's writing to Santa earlier than Christmas Eve like some children do nowadays." He shrugs. "After all, he _is _busy this time of year."

…Okay. I am officially going insane. My idol did _not _basically just tell me that he still believes in Santa. "Have…_you _done it yet? Written your letter?"

His smile suddenly grows wider, and he sits up straighter. "Oh, yeah, definitely. Ferb, Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet, too. We asked the others, but they all politely declined." He hesitates. "Well…_some _of them were polite…"

I rub the corners of my eyes, the one still twitching. "Um…"

"So, what about you, Irving? Have you, yet?"

I gulp. I know it's not a good idea to lie to the person you've been obsessed with for about nine years, but I can't just let him down. "Um…yeah." I nervously chuckle. "Yep. About a week ago."

"Great!" It's hard to not detect any form of enthusiasm in his tone. "Santa will be very happy to hear from you. I'll be sure to get to him soon by calling him."

"Calling…him…?"

"Oh, yeah. He just got a cell phone a few weeks ago that Ferb and I made for _him _for Christmas, back when…we weren't on our break yet." An awkward silence follows before he clears his throat. "So, yeah, we're able to call him now whenever we want. It's so cool."

"Cool." I say this in an 'Uh, okay then,' tone since I really don't know how else to respond.

"Well, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow, Irving. Don't forget to write your letter to Santa. And remember: Even the smallest envelope is heavy for an elf. They're really tiny."

"I'll remember. Thanks, Phineas." As we hang up and I turn off the camera to his room, I think about what I found out about him in just five minutes. Although it's surprising to hear that my idol still believes in Santa, I _am _flattered by the fact that he even bothered to talk to me today. I honestly think he's somewhat creeped out by me sometimes. At least he still appreciates me.

But now I need to go back to the original situation here. Phineas and Ferb I understand about the whole believing Santa thing since I've been a huge fan of them forever, but people like Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet still doing so too, according to him? It just doesn't add up. Why do so many of my friends still believe in a childhood fantasy?

I need to ask the others about what their opinion is about this. And I need to do it now.

* * *

_**Fifteen minutes later**_

"I'm gonna be honest," Holly states as she walks into my bedroom, Vienna following right after. Holly has an annoyed expression on her face, and I have to wonder what Vienna did to tick her off. It couldn't have been much. Holly gets annoyed easily. "This room kinda freaks me out."

"I said the exact same thing the first time I came in here," Lilly says flatly. She examines her fingernails absentmindedly and avoids my gaze, of which I do the same. We usually try and stay within a fair range away from each other most of the time, since after all, we _did _used to go out, but for some reason, she still came over here today. I have to wonder why.

Ginger's looking at a picture on the wall with disgust. She tentatively touches it, as if it's going to fly out and bite her. "Is that Phineas touching-"

"Don't look at that," I hastily interrupt while flushing with embarrassment, ripping the picture off of the wall and shoving it deep into my pocket. "That's not important."

"Neither will this meeting be until we actually get started here," Adyson snaps. Her arms are crossed over her belly, though there's no hiding that there's something in there at this point of time. Django's on the other side of the room and clearly is avoiding her to the best of his ability, staring at the floor.

"I was _going _to get started as soon as Vienna and Holly got here," I snap right back. "And oh, look, now they're here. We were just a little bit delayed due to some unnecessary comments."

Adyson doesn't respond, instead just shooting me a glare and taking a seat on my bed next to Emily, who is staring at something on her phone.

"Now, on to the actual meeting." I clear my throat and clasp my hands together, but before I can begin, Savannah interjects.

"Is this one of those stupid meetings of yours where you talk about your crushes on Phineas and Ferb and expect us to actually listen to you when in reality, we're about ready to start hibernating for the winter due to your exceptionally long, infuriating, aggravating speeches about two guys we've known for at least eight years depending on who we just so happen to be?"

"First off, I do _not_-"

"Of course it is, Savannah," Milly informs her, shaking her head. "What _else _would it be about?"

"Well, actually, I-" I try to interject.

"Seriously," Katie agrees, unknowingly interrupting me. "It's not like he's ever done any other kind of speech." She looks around. "But wait. Where are Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet?"

"And Aubrey," Holly adds.

Only Holly would notice that _my _girlfriend wasn't here. "Well, guys, it's not about that. See-"

"I'm bored," Lilly announces. "Not to mention that I have physical therapy in half an hour-"

"STOP IT," I yell, and everyone, startled, turns towards me. Now that I know I've got their attention, I lower my tone. "You all are complaining about wanting to get out of here. Well, that can't happen unless I actually get _started._ Am I correct when I say that?"

Everyone looks at each other. "He has a point, guys," Django admits, scratching his head.

Emily finally looks up, likely oblivious to what's going on. I'm not sure if she even knew she was in this room. "A point? To what?"

"Nothing," Milly groans. She looks at me. "Look, I have to baby-sit my sister soon since my dad and my step mom Anneliese are going out, so can you get to the point, Irving?"

"_What_ point?" Now Emily looks confused. "I don't understand-"

"It has to do with the matter of Santa Claus and our friends still believing in him," I inform the others, ignoring Emily. "That's why they're not here, because I wanted to ask what your opinions on that were."

Adyson rolls her eyes and chuckles at the same time. The chuckling is obviously fake. "Geez, Irving, you think we didn't already know that? We all used to believe in Santa, too. We just don't anymore. But _they_ do. What's the big deal?"

I blink. They already knew? "The big deal," I say indignantly, now pissed, "Is that they, or Phineas, since he's the one I talked to literally twenty minutes ago about this-"

"And admitted your crush on him," Ginger interjects with a smirk. Vienna, Savannah, and Lilly all start snickering and attempt to hide it.

"_No_," I say, now feeling even more frustrated. I put my hand to my forehead and keep it there. "Aubrey's my girlfriend. And speaking of Aubrey, I was trying to say earlier that Phineas is keeping her childish spirit up by saying that Santa still exists. We're supposed to try and make her grow up, not remain a six-year old on the inside."

"But that's not your business," Holly argues. "I _know_ Aubrey, and I know her teacher, Sara. Back when _we _were going out, Sara told me that she didn't want me to try and make Aubrey smarter. It was _her _job." She frowns at me. "Maybe _you_ should actually do the same."

_She's just jealous, _I remind myself. _Jealous of the fact that _you _won Aubrey fair and square. Aubrey chose _you_, not her._

"I'll talk to Baljeet about it if you want," Ginger sighs, snapping me out of my thoughts. "But really, Irving, I'm not seeing what the big deal is. Didn't you say that you loved everything Phineas and Ferb believe, do, or say?"

"…Yeah," I say after a moment's hesitation.

"Then you should accept the fact that they don't have the same beliefs as you when it comes to childish things. Same with Aubrey. You love her, no?"

"Of course I do." I notice that Holly's scowling after I say this, and I shoot her a smug look. Unfortunately, she doesn't see it since she's looking at Ginger and nodding.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Vienna speaks up. "But, for the first time in my life, I agree with Ginger."

Ginger looks pleased with this comment. "Thank you, Vienna. For once."

"No problem." V then starts walking towards the door. "Am I free to go, Irving? I have a cover of a Christmas song that my fans on YouTube really want me to cover. _Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, _if you must know." She turns around and sighs happily. Her eyes are rolled up towards the ceiling, and her hands are clasped to her chest. "Gosh, my voice is going to sound beautiful-"

"Oh my God," Lilly interrupts, hands on her cheeks in the _Home Alone _style. "Twitter update! Vienna's being obnoxious about how good her voice is. What a shocker, I know. It'll go down in history." She tosses her hair behind her shoulder. "Trust me, it will. Even more than that Rudolph reindeer." With that, she spins her wheelchair around and wheels out of the room in her usual diva-like fashion. Within twenty seconds, I hear the front door open and then slam shut.

Vienna's now scowling. "What right does she have to say I'm obnoxious?" she demands, hands on her hips. "She knows how good I am, and so does everyone else. Thereofre, I have a right to promote my talent. Am I correct when I say that?"

I pretend to cough. "Um…yeah, okay. So, uh…you all can go now." I'm starting to get a severe headache.

"Thank God," Adyson and Holly both reply, leaving the room immediately after Vienna does. Holly flashes me another glare before disappearing into the hallway leading to the front door.

Milly says nothing as she walks out, and Katie and Savannah follow her and do the same. Ginger pulls out her cell phone and looks at her messages before giggling and replying to one of them. Emily still doesn't look up from her cell phone as she walks to the door, and I can't help but notice that her face is ashen. Django is the only one to actually truly acknowledge my existence, nodding his head at me before exiting.

After he leaves, I groan and flop back onto my bedspread, rubbing my eyes underneath my glasses. _That _meeting didn't go well at all. All I really got was people saying that what I was thinking was unreasonable.

Which, in all retrospect, makes sense. Why should I care what others' beliefs are? Why can't I just accept the fact that my girlfriend can't be smarter and that my idols don't do exactly what I do and that my girlfriend can't be smarter?

Wait. I just said the same thing twice. Not that you didn't already know that. But maybe it means something. Maybe it means…that I'm afraid she'll be dense about other things, things that don't really relate to Santa Claus.

Maybe…I'm afraid of losing her to Holly because of her unintelligence. Again.

I shake my head. _No, Irving, that's ridiculous, _I scold myself. _If Albert wasn't off in Italy right now for his study abroad program, he would be laughing in your face. He'd say that you were being an idiot for thinking something like that. You _know _he would._

_Yeah…probably. But what if it's true? What if I actually think that it is a sign that she fails to understand things that make common sense, like the fact that Santa doesn't exist, and the fact that the people you obsess over also believe the same thing and therefore encouraging her to still feel that way?_

_So…you're implying that you think she'll be careless about her relationship with you due to her growing unintelligence and go to Holly, the way she did last year, only flipped?_

I hesitate before replying. To myself. _Yes. Yes, I do._

_Well, you should quit feeling that way. Get more into the Christmas spirit, for Pete's sake, and quit worrying about that. In fact, you should go find out what Phineas and Ferb are doing._

I blink. _Wow. I should._

_Then go do it, dummy. Go be yourself again._

Excitedly, I practically skip over to my monitoring system and turn the cameras to their house on. Just like Phineas was saying earlier, Candace, Jeremy, and Amanda are over. Phineas is on the floor playing building blocks with Amanda, and Ferb is watching them with an amused look on his face.

I sigh and lean back in my chair, suddenly feeling content. However, I still can't shake the feeling of what I think might happen with Aubrey. What if…it _does _happen? What if she does leave me for Holly, again? From all the glares Holly kept giving me today, I know that she would let Aubrey do that without even blinking once.

I know what I'm going to do for my New Years' Resolution this year. And this time, it won't involve Phineas and Ferb in any way. It will be to make sure Aubrey stays the way she is, but doesn't get any less obtuse about things. There's only one problem with that.

I've never been able to keep my Resolution. And I have no idea if that will change this year.

**Next Chapter Preview: Isabella comes over to the Flynn-Fletcher's, and Phineas shows her a _small _invention he and Ferb did. They may just have a song together. ;) Yes, for once, this will be a lighthearted chapter. Hopefully.**

* * *

**So…what did you guys think of actually getting Irving's point of view for a whole chapter? I have to say, it was difficult, probably because I don't write from his very often. But I'm happy with it since it brought some character development for him. He's afraid of losing Aubrey due to her carelessness about love. That's why he was so worried about her still believing in Santa since he figured that was a sign of unintelligence that would lead to more carelessness. Though I still find it confusing how he connects thatto that…after all, Ferb still believes, and we all know how insanely smart and not careless he is. But I'm not Irving. I don't know _what_ goes through his mind half the time.**

**Reading the above paragraph confuses me…and I'm the one who wrote it…**

**As for the next chapter, it will have quite a bit of Phinbella in it. I'm actually going to ask for something from you. Anyone here happen to know some…um, _romantic _Christmas songs, one that the two of them could sing together? I just can't bring any to mind. If you can think of any, please leave some suggestions. I'd appreciate it if you would. :)**


	28. Gagging, Apple Cider, and Mistletoe

**Before we begin this chapter, I just wanted to thank anyone who _did _leave a suggestion as to what Phineas and Isabella would sing. I literally put them all down on pieces of paper and then chose one randomly, and what the answer was will obviously be in here. I happen to love this song, so good song selection, Dr. Coconut. :) All right. Time to actually start the chapter.**

* * *

_**Friday, December 22, 5:20 PM**_

_**The Flynn-Fletcher Residence**_

_**Isabella**_

"Oh, Phineas," I breathe as he leads me into the living room. "This is…beautiful."

He grins at me as we both stare at the transformed room. No longer do we only see a couch, a coffee table, and a TV, but also decorations _everywhere_. Garlands hung along the crown molding near the ceiling. Stockings hung along the fireplace, yes, just the way they describe it in the songs. And of course, you can't forget the Christmas tree, which already has a few presents underneath. There are many other things, too, but the decoration I can't help noticing the most is the mistletoe hung on the doorway. "You like it?"

"Are you kidding?" I continue to look around in awe, not being able to move from my place in the center of the room. "It's…_magical_."

He looks pleased about himself. "Aw, thanks. But hey, don't give _me _all the credit. Some of it goes to Ferb and my parents, too."

"Speaking of Ferb and your parents…" I glance around, as if they'll just suddenly appear out of thin air. "Where _are _they?"

"Ferb's at Emily's," he explains, and I nod thoughtfully. "And my parents are over at Candace and Jeremy's helping _them _decorate." He smiles, likely at the thought of his sister. "It's not like Amanda will be a huge help in that, anyway. She's still confused about why there's a tree in her house. She keeps going like…" He begins to impersonate her, and it's actually pretty good. "Mommy, Daddy, when did the tree walk into our house? Why are there things on it?"

I laugh out loud. "Oh my gosh. I remember thinking the same thing! Especially because we also have the menorah and we celebrate Hanukkah more than we do Christmas. It took my mom _forever _to try and explain both holidays to me."

Phineas is laughing now, too. "Oh, I can imagine." He playfully shoves me while smirking. "You _are _a handful."

"Hey, now!" I giggle and swat him back. "Says the person that has a bigger imagination than all of our other friends combined."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He pretends to frown and crosses his arms. "Is that a good thing, or is that a bad thing? Because if it's a bad thing…" He hesitates, trying to think of what to say next. "Then I'm going to have to wonder out loud where Perry is."

"Oooh, I'm scared." I can't help but let out another snort of laughter. Being such a happy person, Phineas can never think of very good threats in situations like these. "I guess you're going to have to wonder where Perry is."

He sighs and fake-pouts, uncrossing his arms. "Looks that way, Isabella. It looks that way." He glances around, and puts his hand to his chin, cocking his head in an adorable way at the same time. "It's about time I started wondering that, anyway. Where _is _Perry?"

* * *

_**The Kinney Residence**_

_**Ferb**_

_I CANNOT believe, _Perry is writing so quickly and furiously on the white board that I'm almost struggling to read it, _that you told Emily yesterday on her CELL PHONE. What were you THINKING?_

I glance over at Emily's face, and sure enough, her face is still pale. She opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. "I know." I bite my lip. "I'm sorry. I couldn't keep it any longer. It's been three months, and Carl still hasn't fixed the…device."

He rolls his eyes, erases the previous message, and begins writing a new one. _Sorry? Sorry? SORRY? What if Monogram finds out about this? Guess what? Then I'm off to another family. Sorry isn't going to cut it._

"I'm still confused," Emily says with a shaky breath as she continues to stare at her pet and mine, eyes darting back and forth between the two. Kiki is looking at the ground as if it's going to explode at any second, and her ears are drooped down, fedora about to fall off of her head. She avoids Emily's gaze. "So you both work as secret agents? What _for_? And who is exactly this… Monogram?"

"Monogram's the head of the O.W.C.A," I clarify, and she nods slowly. "And to be honest…" I hesitate. "I'm not really clear about that, either."

Perry rolls his eyes up heavenward again. If he keeps doing it at the rate that he is, his eyes are going to be stuck in that position. He practically jams the marker down onto the white board. _To give a nice, little summary for you, there are evil people in the Tri-State Area that we basically go and fight for the day and then come back home._

"I…see." My girlfriend's eyes are wide, still, and she keeps running her fingers through her hair. "And what does the O.W.C.A. stand for, exactly?"

This time, it's Kiki who grabs the white board. _Thee Orggannisashun Withoot a Cewl Akrynym._

Emily blinks, furrowing her eyebrows. "Um…what?"

_Sorry, Emily, _Perry writes on the white board after snatching it back, giving his friend a look of irritation. _Your fox is a terrible speller._

Kiki crosses her arms, or, uh, front legs, and glares at him. He pretends not to notice as he continues to write. _The Organization Without a Cool Acronym._

"…Oh. That's…odd."

He shrugs. _I know. But that doesn't matter right now. What DOES matter is that you don't say a word about this to anyone. Isabella and Aubrey also have pets in this organization, and they can't know any little thing about it. _He hesitates. _Well…Aubrey DOES know…sort of…but that's complicated._

As he erases that last message, Emily looks uncertainly at me. "You knew about this for…three months?" Her voice falters. "I just…I don't know what to say."

"Em, it's all right." I grab her hand, which feels like it would be right at home inside of a freezer, and rub it gently. "It's not exactly what one would call abysmal, but it will be if Monogram or his intern find out. Or Phineas, or Isabella, or _anyone, _for that matter."

"I understand." Her tone is very low-pitched, and frighteningly shrill. Both combined make for a very unpleasant sound. "I'm just scared. What if Kiki gets taken away?"

_Nice going, Ferb, _the back of my mind sarcastically informs me. _You've made your girlfriend that you love more than anything, who is normally so confident about things, afraid of what's going to happen to her pet, and right before Christmas, too._

"She won't," I assure her quietly, continuing to hold her hand as the pets look at us uncomfortably. Kiki looks as if she wants to disappear while Perry just bites the bottom of his bill somehow. "Kiki won't be sent to another family, and neither will Perry. First of all, neither of us will say a word, because I know for a fact that you're trustworthy, as am I. Usually." I scratch the top of my head with my free hand. "Second of all, no one else is going to want a fox or a platypus inside of their home."

"True," she admits. Perry and Kiki both nod thoughtfully.

"Third of all…" I scoot closer, and before she has a chance to react, I lean over, still holding her hand, and kiss her gently. She seems surprised by the way she tenses up, but it's not long before she's kissing me back. Pleased, I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her closer.

Next to us, I can literally hear Kiki gagging, and when I look from the corner of one of my eyes when I open them briefly, Perry's frown that has been pasted on his face for the last ten minutes has flipped over into a wide smile. _Cooorny, _he writes to Kiki, but the fox doesn't see it since she's getting a paper towel from the kitchen and wiping up her vomit, red in the face. Perry grimaces.

Finally, I release my girlfriend, and she sighs, snuggling in closer to me on the sofa that we are both sitting on in the living room. Neither of her parents are home. They are currently doing some last minute shopping for certain items. "You were saying?" she says in a dazed fashion. A smile is practically floating on her lips.

I smirk at her. "I was _saying _that I won't let anything ominous happen to you," I mutter so that the pets won't hear. Hopefully. "Especially something as tragic as losing Kiki. I'll fight Monogram if I have to if he gets hold of this. Or I'll just say that it's my fault for even telling you in the first place."

"That works...I suppose." Emily shrugs. "But there's something else I'd rather be doing." She smiles again. "I'd rather put my attention on the holidays. The spirit…the decorating…"

Kiki nods weakly, obviously still feeling the side effects of her getting sick, and Perry does the same, only without the weak part. I nod as well. "That makes sense." I then remember something. "That reminds me…I wonder how Phineas and Isabella are doing."

* * *

_**Back to Isabella**_

"Ta-da!" Phineas finishes up the last part before standing back proudly. "Whaddaya think?"

Standing in front of us is…an invention. Yes, an invention. It's not something huge like he and Ferb usually build, but at least it's one small step to recovery. All it is is an apple cider machine. I was thirsty, okay? And there wasn't any apple cider in the fridge… "It's great," I inform him, smiling at him. "It's still an invention."

"Yes. Yes it is." He takes one of the plastic cups out of the attached cup dispenser, sticks it under the spigot, and then takes a sip of the apple cider. His face brightens. "Wow. That's good."

I take a cup and do the same, and my eyes widen. "Holy cow. It _really _is. Phineas, this is the best apple cider I've ever had."

"Well, of course it is." He has a smug look on his face and tries to hide it, ultimately failing. "Now, I have to wonder just _who _did this by himself when the girl right by him didn't contribute in any way whatsoever even though she's the former Fireside Girls troop leader. She used to _always _say to help out to her girls, yet she's not doing it herself five years later." He has a mock look of shock on his face.

I giggle and swat him again, in which he grins. "Stop. I just wanted you to invent like you used to. You know that."

"Do I?" He sets down his cup and then looks at me, eyebrow raised and intent look in his eyes, making my heart pound as he steps closer. "Do I know that? Or do I know that you just wanted to watch me for the sake of watching me? After all…I know how much you _love _doing that."

Now I'm blushing. Gosh. When did he start teasing me so much about romance? He may be my boyfriend, but that doesn't mean he's an expert at it. Ferb must have given him some advice. "Phineas-"

"No. You know what?" He backs away and then pulls a random remote out of his pocket, pressing one of the buttons on it, and then carefully putting it back in its starter place. "I think we need to sing something to say what we're trying to say here."

I blink. We haven't sung randomly in…a long time, years, maybe. "Sing?"

"Yeah." He snaps his fingers, and then some music begins to play. Phineas then smiles at me. "What's wrong with singing?"

"Nothing," I say quickly, playing with my hair a little and looking down so he won't see my flaming red cheeks. "It's just…we haven't done it in a while. Maybe we won't suddenly know the words to an impromptu song for the first time because of that."

"Oh, don't worry." He winks at me. "I think you'll know this one." He begins to sing and dance a little around the room, colorful lights coming down on him from all parts of the room.

_Sleigh bells ring, are you listening_

_In the lane, snow is glistening_

_A beautiful sight,_

_We're happy tonight_

_Walking in a winter wonderland_

My eyes have gone wide, and a wide smile is on my face. "I love this song," I whisper.

"I know you do." He winks. "By the way, it's your turn."

Quickly, I listen for the cue and then start my part.

_Gone away is the bluebird,_

_Here to stay is a new bird_

_He sings a love song,_

_As we go along,_

_Walking in a winter wonderland_

Phineas grabs my hands after this, and we spin around in circles while singing the next few verses together. It's really hard for me to not start laughing, and after a few seconds, I do anyway, and he joins in.

_In the meadow we can build a snowman,_

_And we can pretend that he is Parson Brown *laughing*_

_He'll say, "Are you married?"_

_We'll say: No, man._

_But you can do the job when you're in town._

_Phineas: Later on, we'll conspire_

_Me: As we dream by the fire_

_To face unafraid,_

_The plans that we've made_

_Walking in a winter wonderland_

After this verse, Phineas, to my surprise, stops spinning us around and instead actually starts dancing with me, putting his hand on my waist and the other on my other hand. We continue to sing, and I can't help but notice that we're getting closer to the doorway. Also known as the place where the mistletoe is hanging.

_In the meadow we can build a snowman,_

_And pretend that he's a circus clown_

_We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman_

_Until the other kids knock him down_

_When it snows, ain't it thrilling,_

_Though your nose gets a chilling_

_We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way_

_Walking in a winter wonderland_

The music stops, so of course, we stop dancing. Breathing heavily, I back away. "Well." I smile again. "That was…nice."

"Really nice," he agrees. He runs a hand through his sweaty hair, and in that process, he glances up. His eyes widen.

"What?" I wonder, glancing up as well. I then see it.

It's the mistletoe. Not that you didn't already figure that out from the context.

Phineas begins to blush. The red is going from the tops of his ears down to his neck. "Um…" He chuckles nervously. "Well. Would you look at that."

The smile on my face grows bigger. "Mmm-hmm," I reply, smirking and crossing my arms. The apple cider machine still hums, as if it's in anticipation of someone else pouring another cup.

"It's…mistletoe." He avoids my gaze as he continues to chuckle nervously. "I-I mean, well, yeah. It's mistletoe. Mistletoe. The plant famous for kissing even though it is typically used for medicinal evidence."

My smile begins to falter. "Uh…what?"

"Yep." He continues to ramble. "And it's the common name for obligate hemi-parasitic plants in several families in the order Santalales. These plants grow attached to and penetrating within the branches of a tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium through which they absorb nutrients from the host plant, and they play an important factor in-"

I don't let him finish, instead cutting him off by placing my finger on his lips. My heart is pounding, but I try not to let him see how nervous I am. "Phineas," I whisper, taking a deep breath. "Don't move."

Realizing the situation, he nods slowly, blinking repeatedly at the same time. "Okay."

I take a step closer, since that somehow is even possible, and place my hands on his shoulders. So much is going through my mind. This is the boy I've been dying to kiss since the first day of preschool, and now it's actually happening. The one we had at the prom didn't really count. _That _was just barely a peck. This will be the real thing, and I know it even before I lift his head up slightly and make my lips have contact with his.

It's hard to describe. Exhilarating? Definitely. Heart pounding? Oh gosh, yes. The most wonderful feeling in the world? Yes. But…what _is _that feeling, I wonder? Then, when we part, I realize what that most wonderful feeling is.

Love.

I thought I was in love with Phineas for the past fourteen years. But no. That wasn't love. That was the feeling of like, I realize now. But the feeling that's rushing inside of me is something new, something…_exciting_ and thrilling. Love.

Phineas currently has the goofiest smile on his face, which, by the way, is still red. This time, though, it's just his cheeks that are like that. "Wow, Isabella. Wow," is all he says, but it's a pretty good summary, at least to my standards.

"You liked it?" I clarify. The smile won't come off of my face.

He doesn't answer me, instead sitting down slowly on the sofa. The silly grin is still on his face. "Now I know what Ferb and Candace were talking about," he says out loud, staring off into space. "And Mom, and Dad, and…"

He says more, but I tune him out and instead walk over to the window, looking out over at the horizon. The sun is already setting, and people are starting to come home from work, their cars being parked in the driveway. Christmas lights outside are being turned on, and I notice that people are being greeted by others outside a house across the street. They must be having a holiday party. They'll certainly be having a good night.

But I know that they won't have as good of a night as I will, since I'll constantly keep thinking about what just happened.

After all…it's the only thing I asked for from Santa this year.

**Sorry, no preview this time. I don't feel like putting one, since the next chapter isn't anywhere near as cute as this one is and I don't want to ruin this chapter. And I've decided that this will be the last update for a little while so that I can focus on my schoolwork that my teachers _had _to assign just now. *sigh* Stupid research papers…**

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**Lots of fluff in this, I know, but I figured we were way overdue for some actual Phinbella and Femily and no _huge_ drama in a chapter. I'm so proud of myself, managing to actually do that. XD They're my two favorite couples in this, just saying.**

**So…if I don't update again before Christmas, which is very likely, merry Christmas to you all! Or happy Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate around the world.**


	29. Irritating Vienna Equals a Ticked Buford

**Well, it turns out ****that I actually DID have time to update before Christmas. I hope you guys are having good holidays or will soon.**

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**_Tuesday_,**_** December 26, 7:58 PM**_

_**The Flynn-Fletcher Residence**_

_**Baljeet**_

"Welcome, welcome to the party!" Phineas says to Buford and I happily as we walk through the front door into his home. Next to him, Ferb simply just waves. "Come in, come in. There's plenty of food, and fun, and-"

"We're comin' in, Dinner Bell," Buford grunts, kicking off his shoes. Literally, he has kicked off his shoes, and they are flying across the room. A shriek is heard, as well as a splash. He then looks down at me and gives me a glare. "Go get 'em, Jeet."

I cross my arms and glare right back. "Buford, I am _not_ your slave. We have talked about this. Plus, your shoes have landed inside of the punch bowl." I point across the room, where, sure enough, his gargantuan shoes are in the giant, ceramic bowl. Milly and Katie, both holding cups and standing by it, have disgusted looks on their faces. "You will have to get them yourself."

He narrows his eyes. "Why should _I _hafta-"

"Hey, Bufe," Vienna greets him, arms crossed, and as soon as his eyes land on her, they widen.

"Hey, V," he says casually and quickly, as if his sullied shoes are not currently contaminating the punch bowl at the moment. I scowl slightly, but he pretends not to notice. "When did ya get here?"

"A few minutes ago." She shrugs. "By the way, I have one question. Are those _your _shoes in the bowl over there?" She proceeds to shake her head. "Even after I informed you not to kick your shoes off like that, let alone when you're in a public setting."

Buford's eyes widen even more, and I snicker and give Vienna a thumb up for calling him out. She winks at me before returning her attention to her boyfriend, raising her eyebrows and waiting for his response. "Uh…well…uh…" He scratches his forehead, and he starts to blush. Buford hates to be embarrassed like this, and Vienna knows it. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She's speaking to him slowly, like he's five years old. "Just take your shoes out of the punch and then go apologize to Phineas and Ferb for ruining their punch bowl, and do the same to everyone else that wasn't able to get some."

"Why should I hafta do that? Those two can make another one in like-"

"Apologize." The glare she shoots him is intense, much like her attitude about Broadway most of the time. "_Now_."

He gulps, and with that, he scurries off to the other side of the room. Vienna chuckles and puts her hands on her hips. "Man," she comments as she watches him. Buford's face is all scrunched up. He reminds me of a monkey. "He's a handful."

"I would imagine."

She nods, eyes remaining on her boyfriend, who is grimacing as he slowly pulls the shoes out. The red liquid seeps through the soles, making it even clearer that he needs to buy new ones. "So, Baljeet. I…haven't really talked to you in a while. What have you been doing with your life?"

I immediately know the answer to this question, even though she does not _really_ seem to care for the answer. "Studying, of course. Even though Yale accepted me early, I still feel the need to know more information about the different sciences and maths. You can never necessarily know everything."

She bites her lip and then mutters something under her breath that I cannot hear, something to do with her mother. If it has something to do with her mother, it is probably not good since I know that they do not have a good relationship. So I wish not to question.

There is a bit of an awkward silence afterward as we have both now realized that she acknowledged something she did not want to acknowledge. Vienna coughs a cough that is obviously counterfeit. "So. Um. I think I need to call Adyson. She's been feeling queasy lately, so she didn't feel like coming to this."

I really do not know how to respond. Adyson and I have never really been good friends, so I cannot say that I have provided a lot of sympathy for her throughout the struggles she has been going through. So to be talking to her best friend about her makes me feel ill at ease. "Well…um. How far along _is _she?"

She thinks for a few seconds. "Three months. And a half."

"Ah. Well…wish her luck for me."

"Um…" She hesitates. "Yeah. Sure." Vienna then walks into the next room, which just so happens to be a bathroom, pulling her cell phone out and seeming to dial a number. She pulls the door closed quietly.

This means that I am now left alone. Sighing, I reluctantly go to where Buford is standing, over by Phineas and Ferb.

"So, yeah. Sorry," he is saying, constantly shrugging. However, I can see in the look of his eyes that he is still humiliated, partly due to the fact that he is holding his now soaking-wet shoes. "V made me say it."

"Oh, it's no problem, Buford," Phineas informs him cheerfully. He looks out across the living room over to the kitchen where Isabella is standing with Emily and Ginger. My girlfriend is talking and giggling about something while Emily just looks irritated, continuously reaching up to adjust the blue bow in her hair even when it looks fine. "Hey, Isabella!"

His girlfriend looks over at him, and her smile brightens. Emily appears to look relieved, now. "Hey, Phineas. What'cha doin'?"

"Nothing much, other than entertaining friends at this awesome Christmas party. But we have a fruit punch emergency. Can you make us another bowl? Or several?"

"No problem," she calls out. She proceeds to whistle with two fingers, and with that, all of the former Fireside Girls minus Gretchen and Adyson, obviously, are surrounding her. I blink in surprise. It has been five years since their last meeting, yet they still do this? "Girls, we have work to do. Set up a fruit punch making station. There has been an emergency involving the previous bowl."

"Aye aye, captain!" they all say, saluting her and hurrying to get the job done just like they did as ten year olds. Even Aubrey, who normally does not comprehend things easily, appears to know exactly what to do, starting to set up tables for an assembly line. Lilly is the only one that does not participate, instead wheeling herself over to us and watching them from afar.

"Are you guys having fun?" she says in a dull tone. She takes a handheld mirror out of nowhere, looks at herself for two seconds, and then tucks it away somewhere.

I shrug. "I do not know. I have only been here for…" I check my watch. "Nine minutes."

Buford says nothing, instead just walking away and joining Django, who is looking at the Christmas tree. A sad look is plastered onto his face, and his arms are crossed. I would go and join them to see what is wrong with Django, but it appears that I am talking to Lilly, so it would be rude to abandon her.

The blond, meanwhile, is rolling her eyes, her signature move. "Yeah, great that you're just there, not standing out in any way. At least people aren't asking you what happened to you." She sighs and crosses her arms. "Their older sister just like, walked up to me a few minutes ago and was like, _Ehmahgawd. Lilly, what happened_? First of all, I don't know how the hell Candace knew my name. Second of all, what's her business to know in the first place?"

I just shrug in reply. I figure that is the safest thing to do.

"So I go, _none of your business. _And then she's like, all offended, being like, _well, geez. I was just wondering. _And then she went back to Jeremy, but then she was like-"

"Baljeet," Django interjects, poking me once in the back. I start before turning around and then giving him a weary smile. I do not think I have ever been more relieved in my life. "Buford wants to talk to you." His voice is very quiet, so it is almost hard to hear him over all of the chatter and laughter in this room, not to mention that the former Fireside Girls are still working on the fruit punch, so that is causing a bit of commotion.

Without even looking back at Lilly, who does not appear to care about my leaving, I hurry over to my bully, who still looks annoyed at what happened to him earlier. "What is the matter, Buford?"

He does not say a word, instead dragging me to a part of the room that no one is in. "Listen, Jeet," he says, constantly glancing over at the fruit punch assembly line. Three bowls are completed now, and it appears that the girls are making one more. "I've got a problem, and I need yer advice on it."

I blink. "All…right…" I reply slowly, also looking at the line. "What is the problem?"

"It's V," he informs me, lowering his voice. I wrinkle my nose. His breath smells like a combination of artificial fruit flavoring and sloppy joes, definitely _not _good.

I fan the air in front of me. "When was the last time you brushed your teeth?" I groan, stepping away a few feet. "You know, dental hygiene is almost more important than bathing yourself."

"Don't matter," he grunts. I do not even know if he knows what I said. "Can we get back to _me _and _my _problems, please?"

I roll my eyes. "Whatever."

"Like I said, it's V. See…she's been really pissin' me off lately."

Really? _That_ is what he is worried about? I have to struggle to not start laughing. "Well, she does that to a lot of people," I point out. "It really is nothing new like you are making it out to be."

"Yeah. But this is different." Now he looks away from me, yet still keeps his blank, slightly angry expression on his face. "She keeps buggin' me to listen to her latest cover of somethin', whatever the hell that means."

"Again. That is something that _all _of us have gone through." I decide to simply ignore his use of bad language.

"Ya want a wedgie?" he threatens. I do not have a chance to answer before he cuts me off. "She doesn't usually bug me, though. Something's wrong with her, and I think that's why she's pissin' me off far more than usual. But sometimes, like the way she was a few minutes ago with me, she's fine. I don't get it."

I think for a second. What in the world would be wrong with her? I repeat this information to him, and he shrugs. "Dunno. But she's not actin' right, even for her. But ya know how she gets when ya barge into her business. It ain't good-"

"Buford." Now it's Vienna's turn to interrupt a conversation I am having with someone. I cannot help but notice that her face has turned pale and that a small portion of her white skirt has turned fruit-punch colored. There must have been a spill. "I just want you to know that I have to go to Isabella's, as does Isabella herself. Obviously."

He blinks. He appears to looks confused as to why she is even saying this to him. "Uh…okay…why?"

"Adyson's now sick. As in, vomiting all over the place all the time sick. Isabella and I just figured it would be a good idea to go see her. Phineas said it was okay."

"Um, okay." Now Buford appears to be uncomfortable, though I cannot put my finger on the reason why. She is acting fine, after all. "Guess I'll see ya later, then."

"I guess I will." Before turning to leave, she glances at him suspiciously. "By the way…you _did _get my message about seeing my latest cover, right? The one from _Rent_?"

Never mind.

"Uh, yeah. O' course I did." Buford rubs the back of his neck and avoids her gaze.

She frowns. "Well…all right. Hopefully, you'll get to see it soon. Now I _really _have to go. See you guys." With that, she joins Isabella, who has been patiently waiting this whole time, at the front door, and the two exit the house, but not before V gives the slightest glare possible to her boyfriend.

"_God_," Buford complains as soon as the door shuts closed and the girls are out of sight. He rubs one of his eyes absentmindedly. "She can't get a _break_!" He looks at me. "Please tell me I'm not the only one that saw that."

"No." I shake my head. "No, you were not."

"She _has_ to get over the fact that I can't see her frickin' covers all the time." Now he's getting a little loud, and some of our friends are staring. He, however, does not seem to care. "Well, gee, Miss Thompson, I'm so sorry that I have a life outside o' listenin' to ya sing. Do ya sing well? Yeah, but do I need ta hear it 24/7? No, I don't!"

* * *

_**Savannah**_

"Gosh," Milly mutters next to me as Buford continues to rant to Baljeet. We're currently cleaning up the assembly line that we made since we now have four backup bowls of punch, but that doesn't mean we can't hear anything and not be somewhat worried about it. Even Phineas nearby looks nervous about what's going on, and he normally zaps anything bad away faster than an ice cube can melt in summer weather. "Buford's going insane."

"You think I don't know that?" I mutter back, glancing over at him again. Now he's pulling at his hair and pacing back and forth. "He's being worse than Ginger is when she loses one of her mascaras." I begin to imitate her. "Oh my God. I'm not gonna be able to make my eyelashes more black and full of volume and crap. Ehmahgawd, I'm _so _gonna die since my eyelashes won't look like they belong to a gorilla anymore. Oh. Em. _Gee._"

Milly snorts with laughter, but her laugh is instantly halted by someone saying, "_Excuse _me?"

Oh, crap. It's Ginger. I try to avoid looking at her, but of course, that doesn't happen since her eyes (which are surrounded by gorilla-looking eyelashes, by the way), are so hilarious looking that I can't tear mine away from them. "Yes?" I say. I hold back a snort.

"Savannah, may I see you in the kitchen, please?" Her voice is crisp and thin.

"Whatever." I roll my eyes, drop the tablecloth I was helping Milly carry onto the floor, and follow my ex-best friend out into the kitchen. Once we reach that destination, I lower my tone down to a whisper. "What is it?" I give her puppy dog eyes and my fake sad look. "Was I _bad_?"

"Quit looking constipated." She folds her arms, and I quickly drop the sad look and replace it with my unimpressed one, my normal default expression. I never was a good actress. "I brought you over here because I heard you insulting me. Insulting me in a really _rude_ way."

"And insults are such terrible things, I know. Things that _nobody _ever receives but you. Uh huh. Yeah, I'm catching on."

Ginger pretends not to hear my sarcasm. "Whatever. Can you just not do that, please? After all, I never insult you. To your face, anyway. Notice the way I'm being polite to you. I could be _so _much harsher than I'm being now."

"Notice the way I'm not saying yes to your question and how I don't appear to be the least bit affected in any way. In fact, I'm less affected by the way you just spoke to me than Santa Claus is every time he swallows one of those filled-with-fat-and-sugar cookies. If he were an actual person, he'd be dead by now. Do you _know _how much cholesterol can be in a bloodstream before the person in question has a heart attack or a stroke, or permanent brain damage? Yet, Santa's still alive and well. And like him, so am I. Neither of us cares over things trying to rock our boats, whether it's because of brain-washed so-called beauties with gorilla eyelashes or cookies that should be killing us but somehow are not."

Now Ginger's looking at me like I'm a pigeon and I just took a shit on her car. The look on her face would kill if venomous. However, her eyes have gone wider than a giant squid's eye. "…Enough with the smartass remarks, Schumacher." She's trying to look undefeated, but I can tell by the look on her face and the trembling of her voice that she knows she's lost this pointless argument. Wait. Was this _even _an argument? I was the only one giving any valid points. "Um…"

"To conclude what I have just told you," I inform her, thereby interrupting what other pointless crap she could try to send out of her mouth, "Sometimes it's best to just not care when someone who actually knows how to talk words that aren't jibberish insults you."

"I do not talk-" she begins indignantly, but I cut her off.

"Uh uh. I'm not done. Sometimes, it's also good to not call the person out on it, anyway. You know they're just going to win, anyway, as it was this time." I turn around and begin to head back to Milly, whose jaw is slacked.

"What…in the world…just happened?" she says in a somewhat incredulous tone.

I shrug, pretending to examine my fingernails when in reality I'm glancing over at Buford. He's sitting on the couch now, head in his hands. Baljeet is still standing next to him, looking uncertain, and Ginger is next to _him_, attempting to catch his attention but failing. Come to think of it, he may be ignoring her on purpose. Not that I would blame him. "I called Ginger out, finally. I think she finally realized that she shouldn't mess with me."

Milly nods slowly. "Well, okay…but was that whole speech necessary? Not that I'm against it, but, I don't know, I think it could have been handled a little differently…"

"No, it couldn't," I counter-argue. I look over at Buford again, Phineas and Ferb now appearing to talk to him as well (actually… just Phineas), and sigh. I don't continue to talk to Milly, instead nodding at her and then walking over to the Christmas tree. And for the next few hours, all I can do is stare at it.

I ignore everything that's going on around me. People laughing, people eating cake, people drinking homemade apple cider from Phineas and Ferb's latest invention that actually didn't disappear, people calling others on their cell phones, people texting others on their cell phones, including ones in the same room as them, people leaving and shutting the front door with really loud slams.

All I do for the next few hours is tune all of those things out, stare at the tree while sitting down on the couch, and think. I don't think about anything in particular, just about what's been happening recently to me. Finding out about the whole moving-away-for-the-summer thing, Ginger being such a bitch to me when I did nothing wrong except insult her once or twice, which almost everyone does to each other _all the time_, my mother bugging me more than usual, and the still-constant thoughts about the person I used to call my dad.

I don't like talking about him, so I won't go into details about it to you even though you probably really want to know what the hell he even did to me to make me hate him. To summarize, it's…long, and complicated, and it should have gotten him in trouble with the law.

On the contrary, he moved away somewhere in Asia and failed to pay the mortgage, leaving my mom and I kicked out of the house. This led to us living in a shelter, which led to me telling Ginger, who told the school board, which got me so mad that I screamed at her in the middle of the mall, which abruptly stopped our friendship, which made me more mad than usual, which depressed my mom even more, which made my dad finally return her pleading calls to talk to him since she wouldn't shut up, which led to him finally sending us money, which led to her starting this business, which ultimately led to me having to sacrifice my last fun summer.

If it weren't for my father being such a bastard...none of that would have happened. Ginger and I would still be best friends, and she wouldn't have become the way she is now, all judgmental and condescending. It's honestly sad to see her this way. I mean…we _were _best friends for six years.

That's why I'm kind of worried about Buford and Vienna now. If they don't work this little tiff they have right now out…they could possibly end up like my parents did in the future. One little flame, after all, can lead to a huge explosion. Their children, like me, could stop believing in true love, because, after all, kids take after what they see from their parents. Do they want to? Not really, but do they anyway? Usually.

Sighing, I wearily look at the clock. It's almost midnight now, but I don't feel like leaving. It's not like anyone else is, anyway. Besides…I kinda like it here. It's nowhere near as loud and rambunctious as it was before, so it's a good place to really sort out my problems.

Or, at least, _attempt _to sort out my problems. There really are just too many to really do something about them.

**Next Chapter Preview: Isabella and Vienna check back in with Adyson and chart her various symptoms. How's she been doing, overall?**

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**Uh oh. Now it appears that Buford and Vienna are having some problems. Though Buford could calm down a **_**little bit**_**, Vienna shouldn't be bugging him so much, since clearly, he's annoyed by it. Though I have to wonder what's making her more persistent about him listening to her covers to begin with…*coughproblemswithhermomagain thatwe'llseelatercough* **

**As for Savannah…as you can see, I'm slowly starting to develop her story, kind of give some background information about it before her spin-off comes out into writing. She's actually my favorite OC to write as, as of right now, mainly because she's such a complex character both emotionally and with her personality, so it gives me a little bit of a challenge. (Not to mention that the long, sarcastic speeches she gives are really fun to write. Just saying.)**


	30. Adyson, Vienna, and Isabella's New Year

_**Sunday, December 31, 10:53 PM**_

_**The Garcia-Shapiro Residence**_

_**Adyson**_

"Isabella, really," I try to say in as convincing of a tone as I can as she examines the bottle of medicine on my bedside table. "Go over to Phineas and Ferb's for their New Year's Eve thing. I really don't care."

"Nonsense." She brushes my comment off, still looking at the ingredients on the side. At least, that's what I assume she's doing. "It's not fair for you to stay home alone while I go and party."

"No, it is not," her mom agrees. She's on the other side of my bed, which is technically the bed in their guest room, but it's mine for the time being. She is holding a washcloth to my forehead, which feels so amazing that I can't even describe it in words.

Needless to say, I haven't been feeling well. I haven't really felt that well throughout this whole thing, really, but in the past few weeks, that so called 'morning' sickness has really caught up to me. I'm not vomiting as much as I used to, and I don't feel _as _nauseous, but it's still pretty bad. I guess I should be grateful that I'm not missing school for this. Holidays are awesome.

Speaking of school, I'm still attending the way I used to. The amount of stares and whispers has gone down, but I still occasionally get a weird look in the hallway or hear some form of gossip about me. The latest that's going around is how me and Django broke up. I don't know _how _that got around. I suppose my text to V was accidentally forwarded to more people. Not that I care about any of that crap right now. Nope, I don't even care about what happened with Django, nor do I care what any adult in the school might think about my being pregnant.

The principal had a mixed reaction to it. Right before we left for holiday break, he called me into his office, saying that he wanted to 'have a talk' with me. My science teacher excused me, saying to take my things, so I got up cautiously (one of the many disadvantages of being pregnant is peeing constantly without any warning), took my things, and went down to the office, where the secretary pointed me towards where the principal sat.

Principal Bear was simply sitting at his desk, and I could see that he was playing something on his iPhone. From the sound effects, I could tell that it was some form of Angry Birds. So many different games have come out for that franchise in the past ten years that I've lost track of them. "Hee hee," he muttered, smile creeping up onto his face. "You're all dead, oh ho, yes, you are."

A bit disturbed, I cleared my throat, and he looked up more quickly than a fly can fly away when you try to swat it. "Oh. Adyson." He tucked the phone into his pocket, a bit red in the face, and gestured for me to sit down across from him. I obliged.

"So. Adyson." He made a point of looking straight into my eyes, hands folded on top of the desk. He was kind of intimidating. Kind of. "I've heard a few things about you."

"A few things?" I raised my eyebrows, pretending to not have any idea what he was talking about. "Like what?"

He bit his lip. It was obvious that he did not want to say the actual words. "Um..." The rest of the words he said came out in a bit of a rush. "I've heard from students, faculty, _and _from the school web site that you are..." He hesitated. "Pregnant."

"Uh huh." I shrugged like it was not big deal. "And?"

Principal Bear was clearly surprised by my reaction. He must have been expecting a bigger one, one filled with tears and melodramatic pleads that meant nothing. Well, if that was true, then he was a real idiot for thinking that I, Adyson Sweetwater, would stoop _that _low. Even pregnancy hormones couldn't do that to me. "Um...well, uh, I was just wondering if you were all right. Things fine at home and all?"

"Yep," I lied.

"That's...good." He rubbed the back of his head. "Now, what about school? I've noticed that your academic ability has improved dramatically in the last semester. Straight As and Bs except for a C in health. Is there a reason for that?"

I shrugged again. "Not really. I just figured I'd try harder this year." And I literally had nothing better to do than to actually study.

"Well, good," he replied. "But I have one more question for you. Do you still wish to attend school?"

I blinked.

"I'm not saying you should drop out," he said quickly. "What I'm saying is...if it's too much of a challenge for you to come here every day, then we can just send your supplies from here to your home and-"

"Nope. I'm good," I interrupted in as cheerful of a tone as I could muster when what I really wanted to do was to smack him. He was just trying to get me out of the building so that he wouldn't look bad to other administrators or whatever. I _knew _that was what he was trying to do.

Now it was his turn to just blink. "...Are you sure, Adyson? Because it wouldn't be much of a hassle-"

"Nope. It's all good."

"Okay." I noticed that he looked disappointed. Asshole. "You can go and wait in the main office until your ride picks you up after school."

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention. I no longer take the bus. Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro, being the insanely nice person she is, drives me to and from school. She offered to take her daughter, Phineas, and Ferb too at the beginning of the school year, but they all politely declined. Why? I don't know. The bus sucks.

Going back to me in my bed sick and all that, Isabella now puts the medicine bottle back on the side table. "You're supposed to take another four teaspoons in another two hours," she advises me. "Sorry we don't have any pills...but Mom doesn't feel like going and getting any."

"The pharmacy is several miles away, Isa," Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro informs her daughter, crossing her arms. "And there is ice on the road. I'm not risking my life for pills."

"It's fine," I interject as I really don't want to be a witness to an argument at this point. "I don't know if I would even be able to swallow pills, anyway."

Isabella nods thoughtfully. "That's true." She then walks over to my window and looks out of it, sighing. "Mom, when did Vienna say she was getting here?"

Her mom glances at her watch. "Eleven. Which is right about-"

"Now," Vienna says excitedly, walking into my bedroom. After putting her stuff on the floor, she stands next to Isabella and looks at me and my many pillows propped up around me so I can sit up. "Sorry for suddenly barging this on you guys, but you're _never _going to believe this. They're making a Broadway show _specifically with teenagers in mind for casting. _Isn't that _awesome_?"

None of us gave a rat's ass, and the looks on our faces made that clear.

"...Right." She clears her throat, obviously embarrassed about the fact that no one here shares her enthusiasm for that kind of stuff. "Sorry."

"Perfectly fine, Vienna," Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro assures her. She rubs one of her eyes. "And I apologize, girls, but I should get going. Isabella's father is waiting for me."

"Where?" I wonder.

"They're going to a hotel for the night," Isabella informs me, wrinkling her nose slightly. I realize what she's thinking right now, not being able to help but chuckle a little even through it hurts my throat to do so. Vienna does the same.

Mrs Garcia-Shapiro is oblivious to our reactions, instead walking over to Isabella's side of the bed and simply kissing her forehead. "See you tomorrow, Isa. Don't get too wild in here, you hear?"

"Yes, Mom," Isabella replies, nodding her head.

"And have whatever you like in the cupboard, and don't play with knives. Understood?"

"Yes, Mom." I notice that her daughter's eye is now twitching.

"And don't invite Phineas over unless it's for a friendly get-together. The last thing your father and I need is to find the both of you-"

"MOM." Isabella's face is now a mixture of purple, red, and pink, if that's even humanely possible. She could not possibly look more mortified than she is. "I KNOW."

Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro chuckles, ruffling her daughter's hair. "I am just teasing you, Isa." She glances down at her watch, and her eyes widen. "Oh, goodness. Now I really must go. Bye, girls."

"Bye," Vienna and I say cheerfully. Isabella says nothing.

As soon as Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro quietly closes the door, Isabella sinks down to the floor, holding her head, and Vienna bursts into laughter. I have to struggle not to do the same, because like I said earlier, it hurts my throat to do so. "Oh, my God," Vienna gasps, sinking down to the floor as well. "Oh, my God. That..." She laughs some more. "Was so hysterical. You know what? I should write a song about this." Sure enough, she begins to sing, and sing like a person from the 1940's. "_Teasing, teasing, my mother did. About my love and what we would do. It's a special occasion, what can I say? As all that she said is sooooo true."_

Geez. Even when she's joke-singing, she _still _sounds unbelievably good. Isabella doesn't seem to appreciate it, though. "Shush," she groans. "I will admit that that was good writing on the spot, but really?"

Vienna shrugs. "It's a gift. Just like my talent. What can I say?" She winks at her, and her friend rolls her eyes.

"Enough of that," I say to attempt to spare Isabella from more humiliation. I sigh. "I'm bored. And kind of hungry. Do you have any food in this room?"

"Does it _look_ like I have food in this room?" Isabella sounds annoyed when she says this. Gosh. Vienna and her mom must have really upset her. "I'll get some crackers from the kitchen." With that, she exits the room, grumbling under her breath.

V doesn't look affected in any way, though she _is_ crossing her arms. "Wow. Can she not take a joke?"

"It...didn't really sound like a joke," I tell her truthfully.

She shrugs. "Oh well. Not my problem. She can choose not to bask in my talent in a similar way Buford hasn't..."

She looks away, and I stare at her with surprise. "You didn't tell me you and Buford were having problems. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She exhales. "Really, it's nothing. He's just been more impatient with me lately than he ever has been. Not a big deal." V quickly steers away from that topic. "How have _you _been, lately?"

Isabella walks back into the room now, still avoiding Vienna's gaze, and hands me the box of crackers without comment. "Well," I begin to reply, taking a bite of the tasteless white cracker. "I'm...okay. Kind of overwhelmed about all of this and...stuff."

"Three and a half months now, right?" She takes out her cell phone.

"Uh...yeah. Why?"

"Just curious. I found this site a few weeks ago that tells you the different symptoms of pregnancy and when you should be having them, so I should help you get started on it right now." Vienna goes to mutter under her breath, though I can still hear her. "Three months..." She starts to type something out, probably the URL of whatever the hell this site is.

"You know, it's not really _your _business to inquire about this kind of stuff," I begin indignantly, but she brushes my comment off.

"I suppose. But it's important to go over the various symptoms and constantly chart them day by day. That's what our health teacher told us, not that you would know that since you don't pay attention in that class. Anyway, so that way, you can see your progress and note what has been continuing and what has stopped. Oh, I'm on the site now."

"So this site literally gives you symptoms, and then you say how much of that is occurring?" Isabella wonders. Guess her whole 'I'm going to ignore Vienna until she apologizes' phase has died down.

"Yeah, pretty much." Vienna doesn't look up from the screen. "Ah, here we are. Three months. It doesn't have halfway points, so I guess this will have to do."

"V, this is stupid," I try to say, but she interrupts me again.

"Uh uh. Charting the obvious symptoms here." She glances at me before typing. "Yep...I can definitely say _that's _true..."

"Vienna!" I look at Isabella. "Can't _you _stop her? I'm kind of stuck in bed, here."

"V, Adyson doesn't want you to do that."

"Meh." Vienna types one last thing before putting her phone down and looking at me again. "All right. Now there's more of the things on the _inside _that they want you to chart."

"Oh, Jesus," I mutter, looking up at the ceiling. I notice that there's a weird stain up by the corner of the wall, and I can't tell if it's supposed to be that odd liquid always dripping from the air conditioner or if it's supposed to be rat piss.

"First thing. Fatigue. Any of that?"

"No." I figure the sooner I get this done, the better. I continue to stare at the rat piss-stained wall as she continues.

"Kay." She types it down. "How about your amount of urination? Has that gone up, or down?

Isabella snorts, and I glare at her. "Sorry," she says, not sounding sorry at all.

"Whatever. It's down, by the way, though there's still times when I don't want it to happen, yet it does happen."

Vienna nods slowly. "Nausea...I already know you have that...heartburn?"

"Yep."

"Indigestion?"

"Yep. In fact...these crackers aren't making me feel better."

She ignores that last part. "Flatulence?"

"I _beg _your pardon?"

"Gas." Vienna bites her lip, struggling not to smile in an immature way. "You know what I'm saying?"

"Yes, I do, thank you very much. And...yeah." I blush slightly without even meaning to. "Unfortunately."

"Kay. Headaches?"

"Yeah. I have one right now just listening to you talk."

She shoots me a glare. "Gee, thanks. How about acne?"

"Just as much as I had before."

"So, no change." She types it down. "Moodiness? Oh, wait, I can answer that for you. _Yes."_

I roll my eyes. "I appreciate your honesty. Anything else?"

"Nope." She sighs, putting her cell phone back into her pocket. "Thank God."

Isabella's remained pretty quiet this whole time. Her eyes keep on glancing down at her own cell phone, which is set to the time. Even from over here, I can see that it's 11:28. Almost time for the new year.

"Hey, Isabella," I say, noticing her expression. "Do you _want_ to go over there? To Phineas and Ferb's?"

She glances up, looking startled. "What? No. I mean, yeah. But, well, no. I mean-"

"I swear, I don't care. _Go._"

She hesitates. "Are you _sure?_ I don't want to leave you here by yourself..."

"I'll be here," Vienna points out. She bites her lip.

"You don't want to go?" I have to say, I'm surprised. I would have thought that she would want to provide live entertainment and show off her talent. I know Phineas and Ferb wouldn't care at all.

"No." Her voice is tight. "I'd rather not face Buford. All he's been to me is a jerk, and, well, I'm mad at him. So I don't want to see him."

"Fair enough." I shrug, not taking it any farther since I know she's upset already. "Isabella, please. Go. You'll actually be able to kiss him when the ball drops, just like you've always wanted." I wink at her.

Her eyes widen. It's clear that she didn't think of that already. "You're right. In fact...you are _so _right."

"I know." I smirk at her. "So, are you going and getting that kiss, or are you going to wimp out and stay here?"

"I'm going." Isabella stands up. "V, are you sure? You don't want one from Buford, either?"

"Shut. Up." Now Vienna's fist is clenched.

"Sorry, sorry." Isabella quickly dashes over to the door, having realized her mistake. V can be vicious when she's angry. "So, um...I guess I'll see you guys later."

"Looks that way," I tell her. "Now _go _before you miss your big moment."

She flashes me a quick smile before leaving the room. Within five seconds, I hear the front door shut closed, leaving just me and V in the house.

"So," I begin to break the awkward silence that had formed. "What do you want to do?"

She doesn't say anything for a while, but before I can ask her what's keeping her so quiet, she whispers something to me. "Sing. It helps me when I'm stressed."

"Gosh, I'm surprised," I say sarcastically, but I smile to let her know I'm kidding. "Go ahead, if you have to."

"Really?" Now the look on her face is hopeful. "You mean it? You won't be like Buford and say you mean it when you really don't?"

"No, I mean it. You're awesome at this kind of stuff, and I'm bored. Do whatever you want."

Vienna grins at me before taking her cell phone out again. "Well, I _do _have some songs I've been writing in Garage Band. Sometimes I'll take the music they have in there, kind of mix it together, and make lyrics out of it. I don't know how good this song is, though...I might have to fix it. It's called 'Higher'."

"Well, play it." I shrug as she starts to set it up. "After all...we've got all night."

**Next Chapter Preview: Will actually be from Aubrey's point of view. Irving attempts to tutor her...but is she really as dumb as everyone thinks she is?**

* * *

**Yeah, this is kind of a filler chapter more than anything, but it kind of showed the growing tension between Buford and Vienna. *snickers* Oh...you guys are going to hate me in about... *checks* a dozen or so chapters. Hey, there are many other storylines that I have to get to as well. Like Lilly and her tutor...Katie and her confusing feelings for Phineas...Gretchen's whole issue with Emily and Isabella...the Holly, Irving, and Aubrey love triangle...more about Adyson...the whole Ferb and Perry issue...Milly getting a short, yet surprising storyline...and a little more for Savannah, as well. In no particular order, that's what's happening in the next dozen chapters along with the two previews above. You're welcome.**

**Speaking of storylines, Aubrey will finally get one of her own, now. Will it be hard to write in her perspective, you may ask? Oh God, yes. But hey, it's a challenge. What's wrong with a little bit of a challenge?**


	31. The Way Aubrey REALLY Feels

_**Monday, January 15, 2:56 PM**_

_**Danville High School Library**_

_**Aubrey**_

I look down at my lap and bite my fingernails as I wait for Irving to come and help me with my schoolwork. He's told me many times, many more times than I can count, that I need a lot of help and need to be more intelligent, whatever that means. I think it has something to do with being smart, but I'm not sure.

If he's pretty much saying that I'm not smart...well, I already _know _that. I'm not _that _stupid. And it's not like I even want to be stupid in the first place. Irving doesn't seem to get that. But that's kinda my fault since I'm known as the cute, stupid girl in this school. But I can't help saying things that make no sense. It's hard to understand.

I look over at the doors that open into this place that's filled with books, computers, and desks (I can't remember what it's called) and just breathe since I don't have anything else to do. Irving said he would be here at two forty-five, when school ended. I can't even tell time (which he _knows_), but I think that it's past that by now. "Um, excuse me," I call out, and the lady behind the big wooden thing looks up. She smiles at me like I'm cute, just like everybody else does.

"Yes, Aubrey?" And she's talking like she's talking to a three-year old. I'm not three years old. I'm eighteen. Even _I _know that, and I can't even count to ten. That's smaller than eighteen, right?

"What time is it?" I ask her, my eyes wide.

She looks up at the spinning thing on the top of the wall. I think it's called a clock or a dock, something like that. "Two fifty-eight, honey. Why?"

Honey. Like I'm her granddaughter. "I...um...well...is 58 a bigger number than 45?"

"Yes." She nods, but I notice that she's looking at me strangely. "It's thirteen numbers bigger."

Thirteen? I don't even know how big that number even is. Is it little, or is it ginormous? But I smile cheerfully anyway, since that's what people expect from me. "Okay. Thank you."

She nods before looking away, and as soon as that happens, Irving hurries in, carrying his backpack as well as his scrapbook filled with Phineas and Ferb and everything about them. "Sorry I'm late, Aubrey. I had to take some pictures of Phineas and Ferb on their bus to put into my scrapbook." He pats the gigantic thing as he sits down next to me at the round table here in the center of this place, a proud look on his face. "They were my ninety-seventh and ninety-eighth pictures of them on a bus."

He's using numbers. He _knows _I can't understand numbers. But I nod anyway. "Cool," I say since I can't think of anything else to say. I guess from the way he was talking, ninety-seven and ninety-eight are big numbers.

"But anyway, enough of that." He slides the scrapbook under his chair and takes a folder out of his backpack. "Let's actually start to study."

Thank you, Irving. That would be really nice, actually.

"Let's see..." He mutters some more words under his breath that I can't hear, and then he pulls out two pictures. "I have for you a picture of the alphabet and a picture of the first ten numbers."

"Ooh," I say, not being able to help but smile. "I like pictures." After all, with pictures, you don't have to be able to _read _anything. And they're just more fun.

"I know you do." He smiles at me. "So I made some pictures just for you so that we could look at them together. How far do you know the alphabet? M, right?"

"I...think so, yeah." I scratch the top of my head and look at the picture. However, all of the letters keep on swirling together, and I have to keep blinking to make them even look somewhat right. That's weird. "Which one is M?"

He bites his lip lightly, thinking that I can't see it, but then goes back to smiling. "This one," he says, pointing to a red blob in the center of the paper. If I blink fast enough, then I'm able to see it fine.

"Okay. I got it," I lie. My voice gets even higher than usual, which is what happens when I lie, which is very often. My cheeks turn kind of pink, but Irving doesn't seem to notice.

"Cool. So now I'm going to take you to the next letter. I know that you very often get M and N confused with each other."

"Because they sound exactly the same." I continue to stare at the two wiggly letters, biting my lip. I just don't understand the difference. They sound the same, and they look the same. "It's...hard."

Irving nods. "I know, Aubrey. That's why I'm showing you the difference right now. I'm sure that you eventually want to move up to kindergarten-level reading. Not that that's much of an improvement over preschool-level, but at least it'll be somewhat better."

The way he says it, like I'm _trying _to be stupid, makes me so mad that I almost leave this weird room right then. But then I remember that I'm supposed to act happy and cheerful all of the time since that's what I do to make myself feel better. It's... hard to explain. But I force myself to smile. "I do."

"Good." He rubs his eyes underneath his glasses, which, by the way, need to be cleaned. "So, anyway, here's M." He points to the letter he pointed at earlier. "And then here's N." He points to the letter beside it. "See the difference?"

"No," I say truthfully. "I don't _hear _the difference, either." I stare down at the floor, actually wanting a monster to come and eat me so I can get out of here. And I'm really afraid of monsters, more than anything, really. Except for my kitty Charity when she gets so mad that she blows the kitchen up. I'm really afraid of her, then.

All Irving does next is sigh. "Well, Aubrey, I don't really know what to tell you."

Of course you don't. Nobody _ever_ knows what to tell me, and nobody ever has.

"So...I suppose we should move on to numbers since you're not grasping the content of your letters." He moves uncomfortably in his seat as he takes the picture of wiggly letters and places it back in the folder. He then slides the numbers over to me, and I look down at them as he speaks again, biting his lip. "You should at least know how to count to ten, I would think."

"I...do." I don't say anything for about a minute. "...Really."

Irving blinks. By the look on his face, I can tell that he's...what's the word? It starts with an s...oh yeah, surprised. "Well, that's great, Aubrey. Can you show me?"

I start to count on my fingers. "One...two...four..."

He sighs. "Three after two."

"Oh." I can feel my cheeks turning red. I put my fingers down. "Um...okay...one, two-"

"Just start from three." Now he sounds mad, but I don't think he's trying to be mad. Still, it hurts.

But I smile anyway to try and make myself feel better. "Whoops." I fake a giggle. "Sorry. Um...three, four...um...five or six next?"

"Okay." He stands up, and I stare up at him, my eyes wide.

"That's...not a number, is it?" I ask quietly.

He looks at me like I'm the dumbest person on earth...even though I probably am. Irving likes to be right, even if he won't say so. "_What_ is?"

"Okay." I look away, blinking back tears. I won't let Irving see me cry. I won't. "Is that a number? Were you correcting me?"

"No." He looks down at his scrapbook and sighs again. I'm surprised that he hasn't blown this place down by now like the Big Bad Wolf with all of that that he's been doing. "No, I was not. 'Okay' is not a number, and you should _know _that, Aubrey. After all-"

"But I _don't_." Those words came out meaner than they were supposed to, and I cover my mouth. "I'm sorry-"

"Never mind." He shoves the paper of numbers back into the folder, which he then goes to shove into his backpack. "I should get back to what Phineas and Ferb are doing, anyway."

"Why?"

Irving rolls his eyes. "Because they're actually worthwhile compared to a lot of stuff I do. That's why." He then mutters something under his breath. I can't tell what he says, but all I can hear is 'Aubrey' and 'dumb'.

Wait. I'm Aubrey, and I'm dumb. He must be talking about me! "But... Irving-"

"Bye." He puts on his backpack, and then runs out of there. The lady behind the big wooden thing calls out for him to slow down, but he either is ignoring her or he didn't hear her. I think it was the first one.

* * *

_**Aubrey's Doctor's Place about an hour later**_

"I still don't see why I have to come to these things," Aunt Dina tells my mom while rolling her eyes. She crosses one leg over the other. "Aubrey isn't a part of my life the way that she's a part of yours, and I intend to keep it that way. Besides...we only stay for two seconds every time, anyway. That doctor person always shoos us out of here like we're damn flies."

"Perhaps." My mom doesn't look up from the paper that she has to fill out every time we come here. "But you're still her family, and plus, you live with us because you really have no choice. Never mind that you have nowhere better to go today, anyway."

Aunt Dina snorts and looks over at me in my chair, but I pretend not to listen. Instead, I play quietly with the wooden puzzles that really are meant for babies, but they also work for me. It's nice to fit the letters of the alphabet where they're supposed to go. Sometimes I do the ones I have at home with my kitty Fuzz McGuzz and ocassionally with my other kitty Chevrolet, too. Charity thinks it's stupid.

She and my aunt would get along really well if Aunt Dina knew what Charity was really like.

A knock on the door is then heard, and my doctor/teacher Miss Sara comes in, smile on her face like always. Even though we see each other in school every day, she's still happy to see me after. "Hello, Aubrey. How are you doing?"

I shrug. "Okay. " I don't mention the bad study session I had with Irving that made me feel even more stupid than I actually am. And that's saying something.

"Great." Miss Sara takes a seat across from my mom. "And how are you, Maura?"

"Fine, thank you, Sara," my mom replies, finishing up the paper and sliding it over to her.

"Fantastic. You, Dina?"

My aunt rolls her eyes, and Miss Sara nods. "Very well, then. So, Maura, how has Aubrey been at home nowadays?"

"Good, I would assume. She's still playing her video games that you got her. After all, she loves her Sesame Street."

I nod eagerly. That show never gets old, at least to me. Nobody else in my school really seems to like it anymore, which really is a shame.

"Awesome." Miss Sara writes something down, still smiling. "Anything else you want to add before I talk with Aubrey privately?"

Mom shakes her head. "Nope, I don't think so-"

"Then let's get out of here." Aunt Dina stands up so quickly that I almost don't see it happening. "They just opened a Five Guys restaurant downtown, and I haven't had one of their burgers in _forever_."

"Forever?" I blink in surprise. "But that doesn't make sense. You haven't lived forever."

"It's an expression, Aubrey," Miss Sara informs me gently as Aunt Dina rolls her eyes. "She's saying that she hasn't had a burger in a very long time."

"Oh."

"We had best be going," my mom says quickly, and my aunt darts out of there faster than the roadrunner on Looney Tunes. Mom sighs. "See you soon, Aubrey. And Sara, I...apologize for...my sister."

"Bye, Mom."

"Oh, it's no problem," Miss Sara says in response to my mom's apology. "Trust me, I've had clients far worse than her. Now, you must be going. Aubrey and I have a lot to talk about."

Mom nods before finally leaving the room, closing the door behind her. I can hear my aunt yelling at her for being 'late', and she sighs very loudly.

"Goodness," Miss Sara mutters quietly, making a face. She then returns her attention to me and smiles. She looks like a princess when she smiles. I'm not kidding. "So, Aubrey, it's been a long time since we met in here. We _have _seen in each other in your school, but that's not really the same, is it?"

"No," I agree. I carefully put the puzzle with letters back in its place on the little shelf right by my chair. "No, it's not."

"Definitely. So, first, I want to talk to you about school. Not really the learning, since we, again, do that every day anyway, but things like your friends. How are they doing?"

"Good. Pretty much. A few people broke up, which is really sad."

She gives me a concerned look. "Oh no. That _is _sad. After all, they won't get their happily-ever-after."

Miss Sara always understands how I think, which is the reason why I like her so much. Nobody else understands me the way she does. They just think I'm this stupid, brain-dead person. Which _is _true, but Miss Sara always tells me that it's not. She says that I'm smart in my own, special way. "I know," I sigh in reply to her comment. "But maybe they'll find someone else."

"Just like you did with Irving after what happened with you and Holly, right?" she says gently, and I can feel my eyes widen.

"Um." I giggle nervously, which people often think is just me being..well, me. The me that they think I am and that I pretty much say is true. "Uh...huh."

"Aubrey?" Miss Sara blinks. "Is there something wrong? You just got a strange look on your face."

"I don't know." I shrug. "Maybe. Is it wrong if my boyfriend thinks I'm stupid? I mean, everyone else does, anyway, but it _is _true, so..." I can feel my eyes fill up with tears, and I try to blink them away. But Miss Sara notices, anyway.

"Aubrey." She says this in a very...what's the word? _Firm _way. "First of all, you are _not _stupid. Anything that you think and how you think it is completely out of your control. You know that. You just learn from a different way than everyone else. That doesn't make you stupid."

"But I still..." Now the tears finally come out and fall on my cheeks. I try to wipe them away. "I still can't...read like preschoolers, and everyone else can read big words that I don't even...understand. I-I-It's not _fair_."

Miss Sara quietly hands me a tissue, and I wipe my nose (since I can't figure out how to actually blow into it) as she talks. "It may not be fair, Aubrey, but you were born like this. You can't help who you are. Do any of your friends know about this? How upset you are with yourself?"

"No." I sniffle. "They don't even know how I really feel. I...pretend to be happy all the time so that they don't..." I sniffle again. "Get worried about me. I don't want people...feeling sad for me. They already think I'm dumber than a rock." Miss Sara tries to say something, but I stop her. "_They _think it. If I act happy, then...at least they still like me. And at least I feel better."

"Aubrey." She places her hand on mine. Her hand is cold against mine. "Who says they won't like you?"

I don't say anything for a little bit. "...Irving," I whisper. "I...don't even think he really likes me that much."

Her eyebrows raise. "Did he _tell_ you this?"

"No...but..." I wipe my nose again and give a shaky sigh. "He's so... impatient with me, and...he doesn't understand that I can't help not getting stuff. I-I think he thinks that I do it on purpose. L-Like with Santa Claus. He got mad at m-me because I still believe in him. He thinks it's...um... _unintelligent_ to do so."

"Well." Miss Sara sits back in her seat, a surprised look on her face. "I...don't know what to say. But Aubrey, why didn't you tell me this earlier? Our last meeting about this kind of stuff was just a few weeks ago, right after Christmas, and you said everything was fine."

I shrug, not really knowing what to say.

"Aubrey...I want you to be honest with me when I ask you this question. Do you remember what 'honest' means?"

I think for a second. "To tell the truth?" I whisper.

"Exactly. Good job. So here's my question. Do you love Irving?"

I stare at her. "Do I love Irving?" I echo.

"Yes. Because from the sound of it, it appears that you do not. In fact...when you and Holly were still together, you always spoke about her happily. You never do that with Irving."

"Don't talk about Holly." I swallow thinking of my ex-girlfriend that broke up with me when Irving told me to go out with him so he could hurt her, not that she would know that was the reason. That's a long story that I don't want to talk about. "Please."

"Of course. I'm sorry. But tell me. _Do _you love Irving?"

"No." I say this and try to sound strong, but my voice is trembling. "N-No, I...don't..."

"Then why are you still with a boy that doesn't make you feel good like Holly did? I'm not telling you that you have to get back together with her-"

"She doesn't want to, anyway." I swallow again. "I already asked her if she still loved me, and she said no."

"But think about the ocean. Remember the ocean where you went underwater for the whole summer and met that octopus?"

I can't help but smile. I love how she always remembers everything I tell her even when my friends don't. I don't think they really care the way she does. "Yes. Yes, I do."

"Do you remember how many fish there were in there? Lots, right?" When I nod, wide-eyed, she continues. "It's like that with people. There are _so _many people in this world, and only a few will be right for you. You have to decide who those people will be. It sounds like Irving is _not_ one of them."

"You're...right. I...don't think I can break up with him, though." I bite my lip.

She nods. "I understand. That's always a hard thing to do. Maybe you can talk it out with him instead. Maybe then, he'll understand why you're upset."

"Maybe." I know that he won't, though.

"So, enough of that. Let's talk about something else."

I smile a little, glad that we're done talking about that serious stuff. That's not very fun, after all. "Like what?"

"Like...your kitties." She smiles back. "What have they been doing all this time? Is Fuzz McGuzz still eating your brownies and rice? Charity still being a diva? Chevrolet still biting all of your pillows?"

"Yep."

It's funny how I can give a one-word answer to three different questions at once, yet when I get asked one question, I don't understand that one question. At all.

I guess that's just what life's like. At least...that's what life's like for me.

**Next Chapter Preview: Lilly has her first tutoring session with Darren. How will it go?**

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**I assume you guys learned a lot about Aubrey in this chapter. She's really not as happy and carefree as everyone thinks she is, unfortunately. Clearly, she's a pretty good actress. **

**If you're wondering what exactly Sara's title is, I suppose you could say she's like a psychologist/ teacher/ mentor for Aubrey. I've actually seen a few of those in my school, where kids with learning or mental problems go to classrooms with an adult like Sara, and they just kind of go in their own corner of the room and do their own thing. I honestly think that's better than being in their own secluded classroom, since then, they can still be around other kids their own age. **

**And as you can see from some of Aubrey's thoughts, the Holly/Aubrey/Irving love triangle is heating up again... *rubs hands excitedly* There'll be a chapter addressing that issue more in **_**just**_** a few. I've been looking forward to writing it since the beginning. All I'll say is that there will be pure hell between Holly and Irving. XD Pure hell.**


	32. Lilly's First Tutoring Session

_**Saturday, January 20, 11:09 AM**_

_**The Stephens/ Carlson Residence**_

_**Lilly**_

A knock is heard at the door.

A knock. I haven't heard anyone knock on a door since those specially-designed doorbells came out a few years ago. But then again, this guy's never been to my house, so it's not like he could have scanned his finger for the doorbell to recognize, anyway.

Still. It bugs me. More than it should, to be exact.

"Lilly, could you get that?" my uncle calls from the all-white living room that we have. He's lounging on the couch, feet propped up on top of one another, and his arms are behind his head. Yet, somehow, he can still balance a boring magazine concerning finance or whatever crap it is that he reads on his lap. "It _is _your guest, after all."

I don't respond, instead just rolling my eyes and wheeling my chair so my back is facing Don.

"Very funny." He fakes a laugh, having seen me do so. "See how hysterically laughing I am?" His tone goes back to being firm, unfortunately. "Seriously, Lilly, get the door. That Damian kid, like I said, is _your _guest."

"His name is Darren," I grumble under my breath. "And he's _not _my guest."

"What's that?"

"I'm getting the door," I say in a louder tone, grudgingly wheeling myself over to the door.

"Be sure to offer him a drink," Don informs me. "Kids get really thirsty nowadays, after all...or is it hungry? Gosh, you would think I'd remember that from being a teacher at the high school, but I don't know..."

He says more, but I tune him out, knowing that I won't do anything he asks me to, anyway. Sighing, I look at the door, pray that this dumb tutoring session won't be a total waste of my time like I'm anticipating it to be, and finally open it.

Standing there is Mr. Know-It-All, or, I'm sorry, I meant Darren. Actually, no, I didn't mean Darren. But his actual name _is_ Darren, so...oh, forget it. I'm not making sense.

"Kinda took you a while there," is the first thing he says as he steps into the house. His eyes instantly go wide as he looks around. Oh, right. He's very likely not rich. I guess I should probably show him around since he doesn't know how this stuff works. "...Whoa. You have a nice place."

"I took a while since I was glamming up the place up _just _for you," I say in as sarcastic of a tone as I can muster. I can't help but smile slightly, though. I like whenever anyone compliments our house in some way of form. A few years before my parents were killed in that car crash, my dad designed this house just for my grandmother and my uncle to live in (why Don still lived with her, I had no idea), and it's gotten a ton of compliments since on the detail and how elegant it looks. And those compliments are definitely well deserved. My dad was a pretty good architect. "It's not like it hasn't been built this beautifully for the past fifteen or so years. I did it _all _myself for the upcoming of your presence. I assume you like the way I'm speaking to you? In geek-talk? Oh, wait, I'm probably not doing a good job on it like you would, probably because unlike you, I'm not a geek."

He shoots me an irritated look and looks as if he wants to say something in reply, but I pretend not to see or acknowledge that look as I wheel over to the dining room table. The dining room, kitchen, and living room are all basically one big room, so it's a nice, open area for whatever we want to do. Or whatever we _don't _want to do, such as what we're about to do. "So I guess you can sit down at the table and get out whatever you need or whatever-"

"Saying 'whatever' twice is redundant," Darren interrupts. He shoots me a smug look, which comes complete with the raising of his eyebrows twice in a row. If he weren't a geek, he'd be kind of hot with that look. "After all, it has several meanings."

But, ahem, anyway. I shouldn't speak of how he could possibly be hot. That's weird. So I glare at him. "Says who?"

"I'll use 'whatever' in several sentences to further explain it." He clears his throat. "Many people today use 'whatever' as a rude way of getting out of a discussion. I hope whatever reason you may have for the use of this word is a good one. Whatever I say may not change your mind. I don't care whatever your reasons are." He takes off his backpack and looks right into my eyes, which are narrowed, and smirks. Show off. "_Now_ do you see why you need tutoring?"

I hate when people in a discussion are right. Then the other one in the discussion looks stupid. Unfortunately...that other one is me. "_Whatever_," I shoot back at him, wheeling my chair so that I'm next to him at the table. I avoid his eyes out of embarrassment, mainly because I don't want him to _see _that I'm embarrassed. "Can we just start, please?"

"I'd like that, too," Don announces from the couch, startling Darren as he jerks back a little bit after reaching into his bag for a folder. "I'm tired of you guys sounding like an old married couple, always snipping at each other over stupid things."

"Um..." Darren blushes at that comment and hesitates as Don rustles his magazine to the next page. My supposed 'really good' tutor carefully sets the folder onto the table. "Please excuse my being rude, but who are you?"

"Yes, Uncle Don. _Please _excuse Darren being rude." Now it's my turn to smirk at _him_. "Poor Darren can't even stand the thought of someone not liking him, so he feels the need to always be polite. The only thing I'm not understanding is the fact that he wasn't really being polite, just begging for attention since, as a nerd, he doesn't get a whole lot of it compared to people like...oh, I don't know... _me_."

"Okay." Darren stands up. "That's-"

"Enough," Don finishes for him. Apparently, during my mini speech, he found time to walk over here, cross his arms, and frown down at me. "Lilly, come on. Work with him here. The sooner you guys get done, the sooner he gets out of here. Ever think about that?"

"No, not really," I reply in all honesty. I shrug. "But hey, it tortures him just as much as it tortures me to even think of the idea of being tutored for something that wasn't really my fault." I gesture down at my wheelchair. "If you had done what I told you to do and passed that car, making me not have to take control and almost cause us to all die, none of this likely would have happened. And I wouldn't be having to do tutoring, would I?"

Don closes his eyes. Clearly, he's annoyed with me. But he typically is annoyed with me anyway, so I'm not affected by it. He mutters something under his breath before moving over to the big staircase in the corner of the living room, going up the stairs, and walking into his room. I hear the door shut.

Darren blinks. "Well." He clears his throat. "Um." He does an intake of breath. "Uh."

"So you're finally speechless?" I nod my head, look down at my hair, and start slowly stroking it. It's what I do when I'm pleased but don't want to appear pleased. "Sounds good to me."

"Lilly. Please. Listen to me."

The urge in his tone causes me to look up. You could say I'm startled. Normally, his tone is either sarcastic or monotone, not...pleading. "What?"

He sighs heavily, putting a hand to his forehead. "I don't think you realize this, but...I _want _you to actually succeed in this tutoring program Mr. Bear started. It's important."

"Yeah, because you can put it on a college application." I roll my eyes. "Yeah, okay. I'm getting it."

"No, that's not it." He hesitates. "Well...that's _kind of _it...but overall, I didn't sign up for this just so I could put it on a college application. I did it so I could help people like you. People that need it."

"I don't _need _it," I argue, picking up one of my legs and carefully crossing it over the other. This makes me look more intimidating, which I like. "I'm a straight-C student. That's average."

"Yes...it is." He runs his hands through his hair, which, I've got to admit, is pretty good-looking. I don't know what he does to it, but it's...cool. For a geek, anyway. "But Lilly...you missed a _month _of school because of you being in the hospital for so long. That's a lot of work to cover."

"Some might say." I pick at nothing in particular on one of the arms on my wheelchair.

"Look, Lilly." Darren sighs again, looking down at the folder and kind of moving it back and forth on the table. "You're obnoxious. You're sarcastic. You seem to believe that you always know what's right for yourself."

"All true."

"In fact...you're the most annoying person I've ever had to tutor, and, believe me, I've tutored a lot of annoying people. But...somehow...you're different. See-"

"If you say it's because I'm in this thing," I threaten, jabbing my pointer finger at his face, "I swear to God, you _will_ regret it. Because so many people have given me that look of sadness and pity that I've felt like punching them. But for some reason, I never did. Yet, somehow, with you, I feel that I could."

He holds his hands up in front of his face. "Hey, hey, now, I wasn't going to do that. But because you appear to always jump to conclusions, I wasn't allowed to finish. May I?"

I bite my lip, suddenly feeling a blush rise up in my cheeks. I turn away and look at the living room so he won't see it, as well as lower my finger. "Oh. Um...yeah, sure."

"Thank you. As I was saying, I think you're different because...well...you're even harder to tutor. And I like that. You're stubborn, you're completely against this tutoring since you feel you don't 'need' it. Yet...I like it."

"Wait." I look at him, my eyes wide. "Did you just say that you..._like _tutoring people that are harder to tutor? _Why_?"

"It's weird, I know." He shrugs. "But I like people, especially girls, that aren't easy. You have to crack open some of their shell in order for them to come out and try rather than have them do it themselves. It shows character, in my opinion. You could have a different one, if you wish." He quickly looks away from me and takes a sheet of paper out of the folder. "In fact, in English, you were to learn about dissenting opinions and how they can affect-"

"No." I make him look at me. "I...agree with your opinion."

He looks as if I just told him that the government just announced that pigs could go to college. He drops the paper, mouth slightly agape. "What?"

"Yeah." I shrug like it's no big deal, which, really, it isn't. It's funny to see how shocked he is about the fact that I agree with what he said, though. I have to struggle not to start giggling at his expression. "We _should_ be hesitant about whether or not we'll do something rather than jumping in."

He gasps, covering his mouth. "I still can't believe you're agreeing with a _geek_ about something."

He says this in a joking manner, but I can't help but actually giggle this time at how he made fun of the way I say he's a geek all the time. This makes him smile the first real smile I've seen on him that's not a smirk directed at me. He has a cute smile, not that I would _ever_ admit that to anyone. "I know, right? But, I mean, it's not a big deal." I glance at the clock over on the stove. "Now, um...it's almost half-past eleven. I think you should probably get started."

"Oh, so _now _you want to?" He smirks once again at me, only this time, it's a friendly smirk. "And to think I could have when I first came in here, only all we did was fight like an old married couple."

"Ha ha. Very funny." I raise an eyebrow. "Seriously though, we should."

After another smile, he goes off to explain to me for the next twenty or so minutes about dissenting opinions, and how, apparently, I have to write an essay about that, but he won't make me do it until later as a part of the 'final exam' that he made up.

But for some reason, it doesn't appear to sound that bad, not when he explains it in the way that he does. Teddy was right for once; he _is _a good tutor. And not such a bad guy in general, once you really get to know him.

Maybe this _won't _be as bad as I anticipated. No...I _know _that this won't be as bad as I anticipated.

**Next Chapter Preview: Adyson brings Vienna and Milly to see Gretchen for the first time in forever, but Vienna isn't very happy about a certain something. Beginning of Milly's long-anticipated storyline, as well. Katie, meanwhile, has distant thoughts about someone during dance class.**

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**What did you guys think of this chapter? Lilly and Darren's relationship is...odd, to say the least, but I'm hoping the transition from enemies to sort-of friends in this chapter wasn't **_**too **_**sudden. Darren will return in a little while, no worries, so more of their relationship will be seen in upcoming chapters. **

**And yes, this was a short chapter...but I figured it was about time for one. Most have been over 3000 words lately, so I made it shorter this time. This chapter didn't need to be complicated, anyway, so that all worked out fine.**


	33. Milly's Hidden Struggles

**Thanks, you guys, for giving me the honest answer as to how the last chapter was. I really do appreciate it, and because of that, I now know that I need to be sure to take my time and not rush the way that I did. And really, there's no need to apologize for pointing out my mistakes. I'm on here for a reason, and that reason is only to get better in my writing and to have you guys tell me how I'm doing in that. Seriously, I appreciate the feedback I get. I know I say that a lot, but... I mean it. You guys are all awesome in my book, whether we're best friends or we don't even know each other. XD**

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_**Wednesday, January 24, 2:50 PM**_

_**The Hallway Outside of the Gym at Danville High School**_

_**Milly**_

"So you're telling me that Gretchen has been staying in _here_?" Vienna asks Adyson in a disgusted tone. She looks at the doorway as if something gross is about to break down the door and crawl out of it. "In _this _dump?"

"Yep," Adyson informs her, clearly not affected by the way her best friend just spoke to her. She randomly tugs at the bottom of her hoodie. "I've been regularly visiting her the past few weeks since she asked me to, and she asked me the last time I went if I would bring a few people since she hasn't talked to any in a while. I said sure."

"But..." I bite my lip at the realization that I just interjected myself into the conversation. I hate being rude. Yet, I continue. "Why did you bring _me_?"

I mean, Adyson and I _are _friends, but we're definitely not close. We never have been. Really, to put it in simple terms, we're indifferent to the other. I have my set of friends, which is mostly just Katie and Savannah, and she has her friends, which... is more than that. I don't really make friends easily. I guess it has to do with my being shy and all.

"I don't know." Adyson shrugs. "I haven't really hung out with you in a while. Plus, I know Gretchen doesn't mind you."

"She minds _me_." Vienna rolls her eyes. "She even has the nerve to mind my talent." And just like that, she sings in the middle of the hallway. And sings in her usual amazing way. "_One singular sensation, every little step she takes. One thrilling combination, every move that she makes."_

"Maybe because she isn't a fan of Broadway like you are," Adyson points out, completely ignoring the song and the music that somehow appeared behind it. "Everyone has different tastes."

Vienna snorts. Clearly, she's not in a very good mood today. I wonder what happened to her. Maybe she and Buford or someone had another argument. "Well, that's just a _disgrace_. Why would she-"

"How about, I don't know, going into the gym?" I interrupt, faking a chuckle when in reality, I get this jumpy feeling inside like I'm doing something wrong. "Gretchen's probably waiting for us."

"Of course." Adyson smiles at me before glaring at Vienna, of which she doesn't respond. "Hey, Milly, can you open the door, if you wouldn't mind? I would, but...I don't know if it's such a good idea..." She gestures to her belly, blushing slightly.

"No problem," I assure her, moving past Vienna to open the door after looking around to see if anyone's watching. It's the end of the school day, and I don't think the teachers would be thrilled about us staying after school for no good reason. "All right, let's go."

"Oh, and guys?" Adyson says hurriedly, quickly walking beside me, V sulking behind her, as we breathe in the air that smells like sweat. On instinct, we all wrinkle our noses. "Gretchen...doesn't look like herself anymore. At all. Just so you're aware. And-"

"Nope, I don't," someone says from the bleachers. I turn around to see a girl emerging from under the stairs of them, and my eyes widen at the sight of her. Her hair is cut all choppily and dyed various colors, but mostly pink, purple, and black, and she's wearing a ton of eye makeup. Her outfit isn't as 'out there', so to speak, but it's still not something a normal, everyday person wears, to put it simply.

Even though this girl looks nothing like her...I know that it's Gretchen. I continue to stare at her in shock, as does Vienna. V actually looks like she's going to vomit, though, knowing her, she _could_ just be acting.

Adyson's currently biting her lip. "So, um...hey, Gretchen."

"Hello." Gretchen's gaze is focused on us, however, and she walks over to me. She actually offers me a smile, and with that smile, I know that the Gretchen I've always known is still under there. She's just buried extremely deeply. "Hi, Milly. How have you been doing? Has life become redeeming for you?"

At least she still sounds like herself, as well. "G-Good," I stutter. I clear my throat since I'm doing something I don't like to do and haven't since I was a Fireside Girl. Lie. "Life's...good."

I don't have time to think about how lame that answer just sounded, as Gretchen is now looking at Vienna. "And you, V? Is _your _life redeeming, or would you consider it fractious?"

"It doesn't matter," is Vienna's response. Her arms are now crossed. "Now, _I _have a question for _you_. What is _wrong _with you?"

Gretchen blinks, crossing her arms and looking defensive as soon as Vienna says these words.

"Ahem," Adyson interrupts. She's starting to look uncomfortable, not that I blame her. "Anyway. Glad we've all met again. Now, shall we sit down and simply have ourselves a chat about life?"

Now she's talking like she lives in the eighteenth century. _That's_ not normal for her.

"That works." Gretchen shrugs as if nothing weird just happned, tugging one of her sleeves up so it doesn't hang so far from her shoulder. Her shirt is one of those off-the-shoulder tops that I don't understand. Besides, those went out of fashion years ago. "I don't get to see too much of life nowadays, so go ahead."

"And whose fault is-" Vienna begins indignantly, but _I_ now interrupt her.

"Well, lots of stuff has been going on," I begin, tentatively looking at Adyson, who nods encouragingly. With a gulp, I continue. "Like...um...Phineas and Ferb aren't inventing anymore."

Gretchen looks as if I just told her that the color black was outlawed by the government. Her face has turned extremely pale, even more pale than it already is, and that's saying something. "_What_?"

"It's just a break," I assure her quickly, and she clutches her hand to her chest.

"God, Milly. You almost gave me a heart attack."

I flush. "Oh, gosh. Um...I'm sorry-"

"I'm bored," Vienna announces, "By this _terrible _conversation. Can _any _of you hear how awkward it is? How _horrible _it is?"

"It's even more awkward and horrible by you saying that it's awkward and horrible," Adyson points out. She looks at me, and I'm sure to nod in false agreement. I really wish I was driving home right now. Home life isn't even that good right now, and I'm saying that.

Uh oh. I've said too much.

"Vienna, is there something you wish to tell me?" Gretchen asks her. Her voice is crisp and thin. "Like...about me in particular?" She walks closer to her now, eyes narrowed. "Would you like to ask me about my life? About...people? About my astonishing appearance? _Anything_? Because if you do, go _right _ahead." The sarcasm is practically dripping from her mouth. I suddenly feel the urge to grab a tissue and wipe it away.

"Actually, yes." Vienna crosses her arms in reply, and Gretchen's eyebrows shoot up. Obviously, that wasn't the reaction she was expecting. "I have many things to say, quite honestly. First off, the bleachers is where you choose to live? _Really_?"

"Vienna," Adyson hisses. "Where the hell is this _coming _from-"

"You actually have friends that care for you, and a family, and you say, 'Oh, I'm just going to randomly become this rebel of a bitch and move away to the frickin' bleachers, also not telling anyone where I am.' That's great. Hey, are you aware that both of your sisters have talked to us about you? They're wondering what the hell you're doing, as are the rest of us. Isabella, especially. She won't shut her damn mouth up about you."

"Stop it." Gretchen's voice is even tighter than before.

"V, knock it off," Adyson snaps. "You don't know _what _she's been through. And what's your effing _problem_? You've had no issues with her in the past."

"Perhaps not." Vienna keeps her gaze on the 'rebel of a bitch' in front of her. "But I _do _have issues about the lifestyle you're choosing. Where did all of this _come_ from, anyway? You went from the nerd no one could stand to..._this_, someone that people don't even know anymore. What the _eff_? Care to explain?"

"None of your business." Gretchen's voice is wobbly. She takes a deep, shuddery breath. "Please. Stop."

I say nothing, just watching this argument with wide eyes. I honestly don't know whose side to take. It appears that Adyson does, however. "Let's go, Vienna," is what she says. She slowly and carefully walks over to the door, but not before mouthing _I'm sorry about her _to Gretchen.

As soon as they leave, Gretchen slowly sinks down to the floor. She appears to be in shock. "I don't believe that," she says out loud, likely to herself. She curls up into a ball. "I...don't believe that."

I stand there, unsure of how to reply. I don't know if she even knows I'm in here with her. "That's probably a good thing," I say quietly, and she looks up and, startled, stares at me. Her makeup is smeared, but I doubt that she cares.

"Um...yeah." She sniffs and rubs her nose. "Yeah. So, um...could you get me my pack of cigarettes, please? They're on my backpack in the back corner." She points to the bleachers.

"Sure." I'm honestly not surprised by anything she does at this point. After retrieving the cigarettes from there, I hand them to her, and she takes them without comment.

"So, um," I begin, looking down at the cigarette pack as she pulls one out, lights it with the match, and inhales. "How...long have you been smoking?"

She shrugs, blowing out some smoke. "I don't know. Since the beginning of last summer, I think."

I raise an eyebrow. "Really."

"Yeah, I know, it's bad." She rolls her eyes and tucks one of her few remaining brown pieces behind her ear. "But really, I couldn't care less at this point. My life sucked tremendously up to that point, not that it doesn't now, but you know what I mean, and...it kind of helped."

"I understand." I hold out my hand. "Can I have one, too, if you wouldn't mind?"

Yep. You read that right.

She stops inhaling her latest puff, and, ever so slowly, she turns her head in my direction. Her mouth is slightly agape, and her raccoon-like eyes that must require the use of contacts for them now are wider than one giant squid's eye. "I..._beg _your pardon?"

"May I please have a cigarette?" I say in as straightforward of a manner as I can, though really, on the inside, I'm shaking. I've never told anyone that I smoke. Ever. Katie hates it, Savannah hates commenting about it as well, and my dad and stepmom...would probably kill me. So as to why I'm telling Gretchen, who I haven't talked to in at _least_ six months, I have no idea.

Gretchen hesitates. "Um...yeah, sure." She hands one to me with the lighter, and I use it to light the cigarette. Not that you didn't know that, but...yeah. With that, I inhale, and instantly, I feel the nicotine working. I sigh, blowing out a smoke ring without even intending to.

Gretchen continues to stare at me. "Wow," she comments. "I...had no idea."

"No one does." I shrug, pretending like it's no big deal. "You're the first person to know."

She blinks, still looking startled. "Well. I... never would have thought that you, Milly Parker, would be a smoker." She examines me. "You don't even look like one. Or sound like one, for that matter."

"Neither do you," I point out, inhaling again. Oh, gosh. The chills I get after doing so are so frighteningly calming. "Besides, I only started, I don't know, a few months ago."

"Why?" She sees the expression on my face and quickly backtracks. "I mean, unless you'd rather not feel like saying, similar to how _I_ don't want to say why I'm this way, seeing as it's for a rather derisory reason-"

"It just...has to do with my life in general. No one thinks so, but...it's hard." I swallow. "Just a few years ago, it was just me and my dad. And now...there's two more people in the house. People always think I'm being too overdramatic when I talk about it, which is why I _don't_ talk about it anymore."

Gretchen says nothing. However, I can tell that she's listening.

"I tried doing things I liked. I tried cooking and baking, I tried drawing a little...but it didn't help. Everything traced back to the way everything changed. The year I turned thirteen..._everything _changed. First there was the whole my dad getting married thing, and then we were done being Fireside Girls. Two major events in one year. It...was too much."

"Right." Gretchen looks down at her painted-black fingernails. "I hear you."

"I've been holding all of my emotions in for so long. I mean..." I look up at the ceiling. "That's why I've been absent for most of this story. I'm not a good narrator."

"We're...in a story?" She also looks up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, I know, it's kind of creepy. But anyway, that's why I started smoking. To help. I mean...I know it's terrible, but...I don't have a better option. I can't tell my dad. He'll think I'm crazy and send me to rehab or something worse."

"It doesn't matter," Gretchen mutters quietly, and I turn my head to look at her.

"I doesn't matter? How does it not _matter_?"

"Get help, while you can." She doesn't return my look, instead just looking down at her cigsrette and watching it burn by itself. "Talk to people. Don't become so emotional about what's going on with yourself that you become someone you're not."

"Gretchen...really. What _happened_?"

She pauses. I was sure she wouldn't tell me, so I'm surprised when she actually gives a truthful answer, though it's with a shaky tone. "I'll... tell you later if you come back. It has to do with Emily Kinney taking over my life."

"Emily...taking over your _life_? But she's so sweet-"

"That's what you think." She stands up now, brushing crud from the floor off of her skirt. "And that may be what she is to everyone else. But not to me, that's for damn sure." Gretchen hesitates. "So, um...you should be going. The janitor gets in here around four, and it's a quarter till."

I don't reply, instead just nodding at her. Still holding my cigarette, I push open the heavy gym doors, what she just told me swirling around in my head.

_Don't become so emotional about what's going on with yourself that you become someone you're not_.

Could what Gretchen have said...actually apply to me? Am I what one could consider...emotional enough to need _help_? I suppose I am, after all, I sort of admitted it myself. But I've been fighting these feelings for years, feelings that I didn't even know existed as a ten-year old Fireside Girl.

I sigh, thinking of the way it was back then. Life was so different. Everyone was almost always happy, and if there was a problem, it was always resolved that day. There was no real arguing, there was no drama, there was no bad language going around or real violence, both physically and mentally.

When did it change? _Why _did it have to change, anyway? Life...was good. Life, actually, was _very_ good.

Why can't things go back to the way they were?

**Next Chapter Preview: Katie gets distracted in dance class by the thoughts of a certain someone. Phineas and Isabella find out something...**_**very **_**shocking. At least, to them.**

* * *

**Sorry, Katie's part couldn't make it in. I went a lot longer than I meant to with Milly's, and so...yeah. It has to go in the next chapter. But that's not a big deal.**

**I really don't know how well this chapter went. I have mixed feelings for it, really. On one hand, we finally see Milly step out a little bit, but on the other hand, I have Adyson and Vienna acting somewhat out of character. Or maybe they **_**were **_**in character. I honestly have no clue. If they weren't...please, just tell me. I was more focused on Milly and Gretchen than the two of them, so I wasn't putting as much effort into them.**


	34. Secrets are Exposed

_**Saturday, February 3, 6:53 AM**_

_**Hip Hop Studio**_

_**Katie**_

_All you gotta do is tell somebody_

_Whoa, whoa, whoa-a-a_

_Today, he's gotta know, you can't be naughty_

_Whoa, whoa, whoa-a-a_

The music stops, since it's now the end of the song, and all eight of us stop in our last pose, arms raised above our heads and intertwined together. All of us are breathing heavily, but a majority of us are smiling, some, like me and my really good friend Drew, at each other.

The both of us just so happened to join the exact same dance class on the exact same day when we were both five years old. And since he was the only boy in the hip hop class and I was the only one that didn't think he had cooties and was going to infest everyone in the room, we've just kind of stuck to each other for the past thirteen years. Not that I'm complaining. We also both go to Danville High and have English together, so we see each other every day now, too. It's pretty cool.

"All right, guys, after the break, we'll start back up again," my teacher, Jaz, informs the class. We all nod as we hurry over to our backpacks and grab our bottles of water or whatever we decided to bring that day. I notice that a girl a little older than me named Natalie seems to be drinking something suspicious looking, but I don't dwell on it. I just focus on my own water bottle, being sure not to gulp too much at once so I don't get sick. I learned that the hard way, unfortunately.

"Hey, Katie," I hear someone say, and I quickly stop drinking, wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, and turn around to see Drew.

"Hey," I say back, placing the water bottle back in its holder on the side of the backpack. I then hug him like I do the first time I see him every day I'm at class, even though, again, we see each other at school every day, anyway. "How was waking up this morning?"

One of the few disadvantages of these classes is having to get up so early to do them. I've never minded this, though. After all, we'll just wake up from all of the moves that we do.

Drew simply just shrugs, scratching the top of his dirty-blond head. "All right, I guess. Uneventful, really." He offers me one of his signature half smiles. "But hey, now I'm talking to you, so this ought to brighten up my day _just _a bit. Or maybe possibly more than that." He winks at me. "Who knows?"

I can't help but blush a little, as I'm looking over and I see that a few of the girls are now staring at us, poking each other, and giggling. See, ever since we were all little, they've always figured that just because Drew and I always talk to each other and are really good friends and all that, that we just automatically secretly yearn for the other to be our love or some kind of crud like that. Drew's...just a friend. And a friend in my dance class. Why is it that a boy and a girl can't be just friends nowadays?

And besides, I already like Phineas, so it's not like I have feelings for him, anyway. As for Drew himself feeling that way about _me_...I really have no idea. I've never asked, and I never plan to. Plus, I can't ask my friends for advice about it. Savannah would snort and say I was being ridiculous, that love in general was ridiculous. Milly would probably just say to keep it inside of me, and Lilly...would be anything but helpful, to put it simply. The girl's had like twenty boyfriends, I mean, really.

Whatever. None of this really matters, anyway. I'm here to practice my dancing ability, and I intend to do that in a way that _I_ feel comfortable. And finding out that my only real friend here, who also happens to be the only guy here, liked me...would really not make it comfortable for me here. I've been at this place for nearly my whole life. I'm not going to let that all go to ruins just because of a guy. Even if that guy is Drew.

"Okay guys, you ought to be good by now," Jaz announces, making me snap out of my thoughts. "You can get into your places." After gulping the last we want from our bottles, we hurry over and do as she says, facing the giant mirror that literally covers the whole wall across from us. I take in myself in the mirror, not even bothering to fix my insanely messed up hair as I know that I'm just going to be throwing it back again anytime soon. However, I do fix my insanely loose dance top that was all bunched up in the back.

Jaz, after re-turning on her iPod and likely selecting the music to be played for our next routine, walks up to the center of the group and, like us, also faces the mirror. "All right, guys. You all did great for the last song. This time, we're gonna continue doing that so that we can get even better. You cool with that?"

We all nod. Next to me, a sophomore girl from my school named Daphne yawns. Clearly, she didn't follow Jaz's instructions and sleep as much as she was supposed to last night. Not that I'm surprised. She's one of the most popular girls in her grade as well as the school, and she's not necessarily the most obedient person, nor is she the nicest one. She and her two best friends are always taunting Adyson, for instance, and she and I have never really been on good terms, either.

The music starts up now, and Jaz is calling out, "One, two, three, four," in which we begin the routine again. Since we've done this for nearly a month, it can be expected that we would be able to do this in our sleep, now. Heck, I probably really could.

_You're going insane, there's something that I can see_

_The way you stare at that scene, oh yeah_

Speaking of staring, Daphne is doing so at me. Even when we toss our heads back, making our hair (except for Drew's...) fall back into our faces after, she still manages to stare at me. How she can do that with that wild blond hair of hers, I have no idea.

_Hey now, is there something you're not saying?_

_Something that you can't tell me?_

Gosh. This song is really applying to my situation right now. And it's kind of starting to tick me off. "Hey," I snap. Since the music's so loud, it's not like anyone else can hear us. Except maybe for Drew. He's looking over at us now as we lie down on the floor and sweep it with our arms, legs bent and up in the air.

Daphne glances over at me now. "Oh," she says in the same monotonous tone that she's always used with me. "Hello, _Katherine_. Is there a problem?"

"Why were you staring at me?" I don't comment on her use of my full name. I stopped doing that years ago. Plus, with Lilly always coming up with rude nicknames for me, I've gotten used to people calling me something other than what I prefer to be called.

We're getting up off the floor now, rolling our shoulders back and getting up slowly while doing so. "Oh, I don't know," Daphne replies, her tone snarky. "Maybe I _have_ something for you."

"Right." I roll my eyes, not that she can see it since we're turning to the right and waving our arms in the air. "Like you would _ever _be so generous."

"But it actually applies to you," she insists, moving her hands in a criss-cross motion in front of her and bending her knees. "As in..._gossip_. Well, actually, it doesn't apply to you. It applies to your friend _Adyson_. And since I see you all the time, I figured I would tell you about it first."

She says _Adyson _as if she's talking about having to eat fly guts for the rest of eternity. I shouldn't be affected by it; yet, I almost stop in my tracks. "What?" I can't help but say. Unfortunately, I sound panicked, and mentally curse myself in my head. I continue to move, not letting myself become distracted. It's happened before, and it gets more embarrassing every time.

Daphne's teeny little smirk that developed when saying _gossip _has now spread to the rest of her face. "Well...I shouldn't say it _only_ involves Adyson. There's that weirdo Irving, too-"

She, thankfully, is interrupted by Jaz. The routine is now over, and she calls out that we can have a five-minute break; she needs to use the restroom. Everyone else hurries over to their water bottles, and as I'm about to join them, Daphne grabs my arm. "Hold on, you should know this."

"Why?" I run a hand through my hair, beginning to feel exasperated by this girl that I've known for ten unfortunate years. "You know, sometimes, hearing gossip about your friends, or even your _sort of _friends, isn't always something that's accepted-"

"Oh, Katherine." She sighs a sigh that's clearly fake. "Dear, _sweet _Katherine. You are _just _adorable. Believe me, you'll find out about this anyway. You might as well hear it from me now before I post it on the school website."

I raise an eyebrow, glancing now over at Drew. He's giving me a _What the heck? _look, and I shrug.

"Oh, and speaking of the school website, you're aware of the fact that what..._happened_ to Adyson was posted on there, right? And _no one _knew who the author was?"

"Yeah...and Adyson's kinda gotten over it, as have the rest of us," I point out.

"What if...I told you who that author was?" Obviously, she's deliberately ignoring me. "What if...I told you that it was that weirdo stalker of Phineas and Ferb? Irving, right?"

Just hearing her say Phineas' name makes my heart go _bah-BAM, bah-BAM. _I can automatically feel the blush rising in my cheeks. "Um..." I sigh, feeling myself smile. I don't even recall what she just told me. Something to do with Irving, maybe...

Daphne looks confused. "Uh...don't you want to know how I _got _that information?"

"Nah..."

She rolls her eyes. "Well, so much for _that_." With that, she stomps over to her backpack, grumbling under her breath. Drew takes that moment to walk over to me, water bottle in hand, and continuously snap his fingers in front of my face. "Katie. Katie. _Kaaaatie._"

I startle. "Oh, gosh." I shake my head rapidly, my vision starting to become clear again. "Wow."

"Phineas?" He gives me his half smile for the second time that day, but I can't help but notice that his tone sounds kind of rough. He's probably just tired. Poor Drew.

"Yeah." I nervously chuckle. Besides Lilly, Drew is the only one to know about my secret crush on the redheaded inventor-on-break. "No one else..._saw _that, right?"

"Nope." He looks around. "At least...I don't think so. It...wouldn't be good for anyone else to know, right?"

"No," I agree, taking a sip from my bottle. "Definitely not."

Drew watches me as I drink more of the water, and the look on his face tells me that he wants to say something else to me. Right when he opens his mouth, however, Jaz walks back into the room and announces that she thought of some new moves we could try out. That being said, Drew walks back to his place, but not before looking at me and half smiling for a third time.

I wonder what he was going to say.

* * *

_**The Flynn-Fletcher Residence, 7:20 AM**_

_**Phineas**_

"That is _not _fair," Isabella declares. We're staring at a pack of cards all laid out on the dining room table, jokers included, and we have just found out that we're missing each of the tens. It's like someone decided to take away all ten-related things in town and stack them up in his house. Even the candles that I saved from my tenth birthday party are gone.

Isabella looks at me now. "Did you and Ferb...ever make a finder for things? Like..." She taps her chin. "Something similar to the transporter you made the summer you guys first started inventing, only a picture wasn't required? Do you know what I'm saying?"

"I know _exactly _what you're saying," I inform her with a smile, and she smiles back, clearly pleased with herself. "And yes, we did. We were fifteen, remember? Django had lost his set of paints and had never taken a picture of them, so we had to enter in all of the information by hand in the new machine, made by biodegradable materials. Not that that was a problem, of course." I think about what happened to that machine, since it _was _pretty awesome, and then chuckle. "At least...not until it decomposed."

"No," Isabella agrees. She shrugs. "Maybe you could make that invention again. I was really looking forward to you teaching me that really complicated way of playing Solitaire."

"Well, Ferb and I don't normally make the same invention after we've already done it, which is why we ran out of ideas..." I pause. "But I suppose it wouldn't be a problem. Tens in a card deck _are _important, after all. I'll see what he's up to."

"I'll come, too." She stands up. "There isn't really much to do down here."

I nod. "Okay." I hold out my hand to her, and, blushing slightly, she takes it, making me smile all over again and squeeze it. I love when Isabella's happy. Her being happy makes _me _happy. "I think he's up in our room right now. Let's go on up awhile."

"What do you think he's doing in there?" she wonders as we walk out of the kitchen and into the living room, which is where the wooden stairs are located at the far end of it.

"Who knows?" I shrug as we ascend up the staircase. Reluctantly, I let go of her hand so that she can get through. It's a pretty narrow space. "He could be trying to come up with new project ideas, or he could be doing homework. The latter is unlikely, though. He usually gets his homework done the day he gets it, no matter what it is."

We're at the top now, and I turn to the right towards our bedroom, continuing to talk. "See, even if it's a project due in two weeks, Ferb'll get it done right away. I try to do it that quickly, too, but sometimes, I just can't." With that, I open the door, and get an eyeful. My brother is sitting on his bed, and our platypus is sitting across from him. No..._standing _across from him.

"So you're telling me that the amnesia-inator still hasn't..." Ferb looks up, and his eyes widen. Perry's do, too, as does mine and Isabella's.

Yes. Perry's, too. And not only are his eyes not cross eyed, but he's also standing on two legs rather than four. Also, there is a brown fedora with a black band on it sitting on the top of his head. In his hands is a white board with words written on it. "P-P-Perry?" I stammer.

"Shit," Ferb says suddenly, without warning. He notices the expressions on mine and my girlfriend's faces, and quickly backtracks. "I mean, shoot." He then looks back at our pet. Perry's pupils have shrunk to the size of dots. The platypus looks absolutely panicked, an expression I didn't even know he could have. "No...actually..." He hesitates. "I... mean shit. I really do."

For once in my life, I purposely ignore him, placing my attention on the more serious matter here. "W-W-What," I stutter, pointing at Perry, who avoids looking at me. "I-Is _this_?"

Perry, while still looking scared, quickly erases whatever he had on the white board and starts to write something else. When finished, he holds it up to me. It has something to do with being a secret agent for this organization and us being his _host family_. Anger rises up inside of me. "So that's all we are to you? A _host family_?" I chuckle. "And to think I thought you were a _valuable _addition to the family."

Perry lowers his head, clearly ashamed. Good.

"Phineas." Isabella puts her hand on my shoulder, not seeming to be too affected by any of this. "Let Perry explain. Maybe there's more to this than you think there is..." Her voice trails off, and she looks expectantly at the platypus, in which he nods and pulls out his white board again.

_What I do for a job is to fight evil. It sounds odd, I know, but it's the truth. But just because I do that, it doesn't make you less important. If anything, it makes you MORE important, because I have a family to get back to every day. And I look forward to seeing you guys at the end of every day._

"Really?" I can't help but say, and he smiles at me. It's strange to see him do so. Normally, his face has such a blank expression on it.

_Yes. Really. And...yes. That's where I go every day._

"I figured that." I look at Ferb, who visibly looks more relaxed now. "Hey, Ferb, now you don't have to listen to me ask that question anymore. In fact...maybe we can join Perry on wherever he's going!" I begin to grin, again. "How awesome would _that _be? Then we could finally have something to do!"

Ferb looks away now, and Perry somehow bites the bottom of his bill. _Uh...well, see, that can't happen. Technically, you're not supposed to know that we do this stuff. No one does. And if the owners find out...their pets get sent away._

"...What?" My voice cracks, and I blush with embarrassment. But nobody else really seems to notice, Isabella included. She has a look of concern on her face, and tries to catch my eye. But I don't let her. "Then how did _Ferb_ know?"

_He found out a few months ago and was forced not to tell anyone. He DID tell Emily, though, even though he wasn't SUPPOSED to. _He glares at my brother, who looks away, twiddling his thumbs. _Isabella...I think you might as well should know this, since Emily knows this about Kiki. Pinky's an agent, too._

"Really?" When Perry nods, she sighs. "Well, _that _would explain why he's never around. I'll have to tell him that I know later."

_Sounds good. _Perry lets out a sound that sounds like a sigh. _But you both have to promise me that you won't say ANYTHING about this to ANYONE. They're working on the memory eraser currently, and if they find out that three more people know about this now, I'm dead meat. Literally, they'll send me to the dog pound as food._

"What?" I exclaim.

_I'm kidding. _Perry smirks. _Seriously though, be quiet about it._

"No problem-" I start to say, but then hear a beeping sound come from somewhere. Perry glances down at his watch, and his eyes turn extremely wide. We all peer at it, and on it is an old man's face. On _it _is a large frown. Ferb's, meanwhile, turns ashen, and he looks like he's going to faint at any second.

With these signs...I think it's safe to say that this isn't a good thing.

**Next Chapter Preview: Adyson passes out at school, making her question whether or not it's still a good idea to go. Baljeet has a talk with Ginger about something.**

* * *

**Bwahahaha, I have left you with a cliffhanger. I haven't really done that in a while, so since I know that you'll all be thanking me, I'll just say, "You're welcome" in advance. Sound good?**

**And I **_**wonder **_**just what Daphne was talking about...hmm. No worries, we'll return to that issue in just a few chapters. Seriously, I think it's the one after the next one. So, prepare yourselves for it. **


	35. Why Ginger Gossips

_**Wednesday, February 14, 8:14 AM**_

_**Danville High School Hallway**_

_**Adyson**_

Valentine's Day _sucks._

Seriously, it is the suckiest holiday ever. If you have a boyfriend or girlfriend or spouse or your pet turtle or _whatever_ you're in a relationship with, then it's probably _not_ the suckiest holiday ever since you actually are loved by someone. Good for you if you are. But if you're a loser like me who dumped her boyfriend even if it _was _for a good reason, or if you just don't have a partner, period, then lucky you, you get to sulk about in your cloud of loserness as everyone around you squeals like they're pigs and flings rosebuds into the air.

No, seriously, people are flinging rosebuds into the air. Or, at least, the girl half of the couples are. They literally have baskets full of the stuff and are tossing it everywhere, on the floor, the lockers, in people's hoods (mine...), etcetera. Aren't they aware that some people could...uh, be _allergic _to them?

And by _them_, I mean the girls. Though I suppose you _could _misinterpret what I said and think I was talking about the rosebuds.

Sighing in irritation, I slam my locker shut and begin to make my way down the hallway to my second period class. It's Home Economics, which is an insanely boring class, but on the bright side, it's easy. Also, Katie, Milly, Baljeet, and Holly are taking it the same period as me, and I don't mind any of them, so that makes it an even more acceptable class for me to take.

As usual, as I walk into the classroom, I notice that I'm the last one there, not like it matters since the bell hasn't rung yet. I hurry to get into my assigned seat next to Holly, who smiles at me slightly. I give her one of those, _Uh...hi _waves right as the bell rings, and our teacher, Miss Drexel, stands up from her desk and walks to the center of the room.

Honest to God, she can't be more than twenty-five. I think even that is pushing it. To put it simply, compared to the other teachers in this wing, she's younger. Much..._much_ younger. "Morning, class," she says cheerfully, but not in a way that sounds obnoxious. Rather, she genuinely respects us and actually realizes that we're not preschoolers, but still makes an effort to be nice.

"Morning," some of us say in reply. One guy in the back snores loudly, and a few kids turn around to glare at him, not that he can see it.

"So, how has your day been so far?" Miss Drexel wonders, purposely ignoring the guy. She smiles again. "Anyone here like me and _not _have a Valentine?"

"Yo, how do ya _not _have a boyfriend?" another guy in the back shouts, and the class laughs, as well as she. Her laugh doesn't even sound forced, which amazes me. Most teachers would get annoyed by outbursts like that, but not her.

"I don't know." She shrugs. "I just don't really care for one right now, that's all."

Miss Drexel gets an extra point in my book.

"So. Anyway." She clears her throat. "You guys know how we're going to start our career unit today? As you all know, you're getting awfully close to graduating. Exciting time, right?"

Hell, yeah. I'll finally be free from this school. Oh, sorry. I meant dump.

"So, obviously, if you haven't already, you need to start thinking about what career paths you're interested in, and then go from there. I'll help you through the process, and..."

As she continues to talk, I hear someone's phone buzz. I glance over to my left to see, to my shock, that it's Baljeet's. His eyes widen as he scrambles to turn it off, but not before looking at the text. He rolls his eyes upon looking at it.

"So I'll be meeting with each of you personally, and during that time, the rest of you can go get your textbooks from the front of the class and read pages 392 to 399 about the four different career pathways, as well as-"

"I am terribly sorry to interrupt your class, Miss Drexel," Baljeet interrupts, beginning to blush as we all stare at him in a perplexed manner, except for me. I'm trying to hold in my snickers. "But I believe that...I have a bit of an emergency involving the lavatory and my bladder. May I please...empty it?"

"You know, Baljeet," Miss Drexel chuckles as she writes him a bathroom pass pulled out of the pocket of her khaki pants that only she can pull off for someone her age. "You _can _ask to use the bathroom. I don't care."

I can't help but finally snort, and Baljeet turns to glare at me. I look away and cover my head (I suddenly have a huge headache), making it appear that I wasn't the one to do it, and he sighs exasperatedly. "Very well. I will be back very soon."

* * *

_**Baljeet ten seconds later outside of the classroom**_

"What is it, Ginger?" I hiss. I am pacing back and forth currently and constantly glancing at my watch. I very rarely miss a class, even if it is a class that will not exactly matter for my college education. All it will do is give me an extra credit, which, of course, is nice, but not needed.

My girlfriend is standing across from me now, her arms crossed. The class she takes at this time is Fashion Design, which is right across from mine. So it all worked out for her. "I'm... sorry, Baljeet. I know you don't like it when I disrupt you from your studies-"

"Quite," I interrupt for the second time that day, shooting her a glare. "Are you aware of the fact that this will count towards my college education? I take great pride in never missing a day of school or more than twenty minutes out of my classes every year mainly due to the fact that it looks good on a resume. I have not used any of my minutes yet this year, especially not for getting out of my math and science ones."

She wrinkles her nose in confusion. "I thought that you only took _this_ class because there weren't any other math or science courses _available_. Plus...isn't this a Home Economics class? Why does it matter if you miss some of _that_?"

"Never mind that," I groan. "What I would really like to know is why I am being dragged out here by you. Miss Drexel is discussing future careers with each and every one of us. I mean...I am positive I want to be a neurosurgeon, but-"

"We're getting off topic here." Now it is _her _turn to start interrupting people, clearly. She unfolds her arms and looks straight at me. "I've got another secret, and before I start spreading it, I figured you should know first."

I raise my eyebrow, also doing my best not to moan. She always does this, thinking that I actually want to take a part in all of her drama that she always causes. "Ginger, you _know _that I do not care about this stuff the way that you do."

"Perhaps not." Ginger glances down at her fingernails, which are fake. Nobody is born with fingernails here. "But this is _really _important. It just so happens... to involve your bully."

Now _that _will catch my attention. Ginger notices the way my head snaps up from looking at the ground, and she smiles the evil smile she gives when she is out to cause trouble. "Now that you are alert in what I am saying to you, I'll just say the secret." She looks around, as if making sure that no one could hear, and beckons me closer, of which I do so. She cups her hands around my ear and whispers it. "Buford's planning on breaking up with Vienna."

Ginger releases me then, and I stare at her with surprise. Buford had never told me anything about this. "He is?" I say incredulously, covering my mouth. "B-But _why_? And how did _you _find out?"

She shrugs, trying to hide the little smirk forming on her lips. "God knows why. All I know is that they've been fighting like _crazy_ lately. Vienna keeps bugging him to do some kind of sh-, I mean... _crud_, for her, and he just can't take it anymore. As to how I found out..." She hesitates. "Well, um, that's a long story."

"I cannot believe it." I rub my forehead, still trying to process the information she has just told me. "I will have to talk to Buford about this later."

"Oh...I wouldn't do that." She chuckles nervously, wringing out her palms and avoiding my gaze. "Um...see, Buford's still trying to get the ba-I mean, _nerves _to do it. So I wouldn't talk about it with him, if I were you. He doesn't really want to break off _all _ties with her, um, yeah. So, um...yeah. Give him his space."

"Okay." I shrug. "Now may I please go back to class?" I glance down at my watch again. "I have used up seven out of my twenty minutes this year already just from this conversation. I cannot afford to use any more." I finally give her a small smile. "You understand, right?"

"Of course I do." Ginger runs a hand through her black hair and smiles back. "I should get back to my class, anyway. We're finally learning how to fold fabric and then stitch it together. It only took my dumba-I mean, _stupid _teacher _forever _to figure out how to do it herself so she could teach it to us."

I nod, not really knowing how to respond since I have not an idea of what she is talking about. "All right. I will see you later at dinner tonight."

I turn around, but she then grabs my arm. "Wait." She hesitates, and then offers me a shy smile. She does not show this smile very often, so I am curious as to what she wants to say. "Um...could you kiss me before you go?"

I roll my eyes, but in a dignified manner. "Oh, _fine_," I say teasingly, and she giggles before I lean down and kiss her just as she asked. As usual, the way her eyes always light up when I pull back from one of them is there. Before she can say anything more, I turn around and begin to walk back to the classroom, thinking of all that just happened.

Of course, I think about Ginger and what she specially requested. That, of course, was wonderful. But I am thinking more about what she told me, about Buford wanting to break it off with Vienna.

I know that they were having problems, but problems like _this_? Something does not seem right, here...

* * *

_**Ginger**_

_~Flashback, the previous evening~_

_(I'm walking into the music room for my piano lessons, which I only just started this year. I was well aware that most people start when they've barely started walking, but hey, I can't help if I developed an interest in it this year. So when I'm about to walk into the room to meet with my teacher, I hear voices. I start listening, and, to my surprise, hear Buford and Vienna.)_

Buford: Listen, V, I'm sorry, okay? I've been a real jerk to ya.

Vienna:_ (after playing a few notes to whatever song she's writing on the piano) _I know.

Buford: Really, though...I mean it. I mean, I should know not ta get mad at ya for doin' what ya like.

Vienna: No. No, you should not.

Buford:_ (after a bit of an awkward silence) _Ya know I love ya, right? Yer awesome. Yer beautiful. But most of all...yer talented. All o' those combined...make for a pretty sweet person.

Vienna: ...Really? You...think I'm talented?

Me:_ (muttering under my breath so they won't hear) Everyone_ thinks you are, dummy. And so do you.

Buford: O' course I do. Now..._ ( I hear him sit down at the piano bench with her) _Prove it to yerself.

Vienna: Well...not until _one_ more thing.

_(I leave the room after that, not wanting to hear any more.)_

Yeah...as you can see...I lied to my boyfriend. And I'm about to lie to the entire school, too, when I post the latest 'gossip' about Bufenna online to the school website, which...really isn't very secure. See, anyone can hack into it. As long as it has to do with the school in some way, the administrators don't care what happens to it. Hell, I think some student here runs it that just plain doesn't care, either.

Everyone always wonders why I do stuff like this, spread gossip around and also spread gossip around that isn't true. Everyone always accuses me of wanting to be this totally heartless jerk, i.e. Savannah, which explains why we aren't friends anymore. But really, everyone thinks that that's the only reason I do this kind of stuff.

Well...that's not true. In fact...the reason I do it is because I'm jealous of all of the people in my group. Every single one of them. Yep, that's right. Jealous. Here's a brief explanation for each one of them:

Phineas knows what he wants to do in life. He wants to be an inventor and work alongside his brother Ferb. Phineas will be the designer, Ferb the builder. Plus, they're super friendly, especially Phineas, but not to the point of being creepy. They're friends with everyone. Everyone likes them.

Isabella is also friends with everyone in our group. She's also extremely patient, I mean, she waited God knows how long for her boyfriend to notice her. She's the head cheerleader but never makes a big deal out of it. Plus, she's pretty without even trying.

My boyfriend is just...amazing in general. He's so insanely intelligent that I'm shocked he hasn't skipped any grades or anything like that, and I love that what he wants to do in the future is something that will help others. Plus, Baljeet's always tolerated Buford in a way that I don't understand.

Savannah may not have the best home life, and she may not be the nicest person, but...she still doesn't give half a crap to what people tell her, including me. I have to say, that even though we're not friends anymore and I highly doubt that we ever will be again, that I'm proud of her. She could be totally depressed right now, but what does she do? Just be herself.

Katie is always nice to everyone, well, pretty much everyone, and, like Phineas and Ferb, knows exactly what she wants her future to be like. She wants to be a professional backup dancer. How cool is _that_? Plus, with her talent, she could get really, really far.

Milly may be quiet, and I don't know _that _much about her, to be frank, but I know that she has a personality inside of her that's just begging to come out. She's a good cook, actually, now that I think of it. Maybe she can score a show on some cooking channel on television in the future. I could totally see her doing that.

Vienna has always set her sights on Broadway, and with her talent, I know that she'll make it there. I mean, is she so insanely annoying that I want to throw an egg made of a brick at her head half the time? Uh, yeah, but at the very least, she's good at what she loves doing. That's admirable.

Buford, from his exterior, may not seem like someone to go near, and he sometimes isn't, depending on his mood, but he really is a softie at heart. I mean, look at the way he treats Vienna. Baljeet and I don't always act like that; in fact, I think he ignores me sometimes on purpose.

Lilly...is a bitch. Period. But I'm still jealous of her in the fact that she can throw any insult you give her right back at you and make it _far_ worse than yours. And even though she'll never walk again, she doesn't whine about it. She just keeps going through her life. If I were in her position...I don't know what I would do with myself.

Django's just an awesome guy in general, except when he's angry. Then it's not pretty. But he wants to sort of follow in his dad's footsteps and become an artist, just a different kind. I sure as hell can't draw, so seeing some of the stuff he does just makes me feel weak inside.

Adyson's strong. Like, _really _strong. I can't remember seeing a time when someone made fun of her and she looked sad. I mean, she's like Lilly in the way that she's very sarcastic _and_ can be a little mean sometimes. But a lot of people in our group _still _like her.

Emily is just...so nice, and she's easy to talk to, too. She's quite talkative, which can get a little annoying at times, but she's just such a fun person. There really is no other way to describe her. She also appears to be really focused and confident on her studies, and she has pretty good grades, from what I can tell.

Holly is a bit of a wimp at times when it comes to certain situations (like her relationship with Aubrey...), but she's still a pretty cool person. She's almost always willing to help someone out, and she generally isn't that unlikable.

Irving may be odd, to say the least, but he likes what he does, no matter how odd it is. He just likes everything about Phineas and Ferb and makes that very clear. He doesn't try to hide what he likes and what he does with it.

Aubrey's not necessarily intelligent, nor does she have much common sense, but you have to love her. She really is the sweetest person I've ever met, and she has no shame for who she is, at least, from what I can see.

Gretchen...I haven't seen in forever, so I can't really talk about her.

And now we finally make it to me. Well, if you take out the fact that I spread gossip around and that I'm a bitch... I'm fashionable. Um...yay? _Now_ do you see why I'm jealous of everyone? I'm nothing compared to them. That's why I always put myself out there. To make me feel like I'm _worth _something on this planet. I mean, out of 100,000 sperm...I was the fastest. That has to mean _something_, right?

And that's why I'm going to put up on the school website that Buford and Vienna are planning on breaking up when it's clearly not at all true. It'll make me feel better about myself, so...I'm cool with it. I don't really care what they say about it. I'll just make it anonymous, anyway.

* * *

_**Back to Adyson**_

"Hello, Adyson," Miss Drexel tells me as Baljeet hurries in, grabs a textbook, and takes a seat in his chair. Our friends all give him quizzical looks, but he pretends not to notice. Miss Drexel, meanwhile, makes her tone more quiet. "How are you doing?"

I shrug. "Okay. I've been feeling kinda sick on and off lately, but...it's getting better."

She nods. "That's good. So, I know that because of this, you likely aren't going to want to go to college." She looks at me uncertainly. "That is...if you're keeping the baby."

"I haven't decided yet," I tell her truthfully, biting my lip. My headache is _really _bugging me. "My mom...kicked me out, so... I'm staying at a friend's. I just... don't know."

Miss Drexel offers me a weary smile. "Well, in case you decide not to keep it, you should have an idea of what you want to do in the future. Do you have any idea?"

I slowly shake my head no, trying to ignore the searing pain in my head right now.

"I'll help you get started, then. Are you musically or artistically talented?"

This only makes me think of Django, and I can't help but moan a little at more of my mind starting to swirl around. My teacher raises her eyebrows. "Adyson...are you alright? Do you need me to call the nurse?" She sounds alarmed, and I can see some of the students beginning to stare.

It's at that moment when I finally can't take it anymore, and I feel myself collapse from my chair as everyone stands up, Miss Drexel included as she goes to call the nurse.

* * *

I wake up an unknown amount of time later to find myself in my bed at the Garcia-Shapiro's house. Although it's blurry, I can just make out the images of Isabella's mom and someone in a white coat. I'm going to assume that's a doctor.

"During a pregnancy, you sometimes can have your oxygen supply go to the placenta instead of the brain, making you feel dizzy or faint," the doctor informs her. She then glances back at me, and her face brightens. "Oh, good, you're awake, Adyson. How do you feel?"

"I don't know," I mutter. I rub the top of my head. "My head kinda hurts..."

"That's normal," the doctor assures me as Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro quietly slips out of the room, probably to get some food. She's always complaining about how her daughter is too skinny, even though Isabella eats plenty. Come to think of it...she's like that with everyone. "You should be fine enough to go back to school on Friday, but I would just take the time tomorrow and the rest of today to rest."

I nod weakly, and as she goes to leave the room, I call out, "Wait."

She stops, and then stands in the doorway. "Yes?"

"Um...I have something to ask you..."

"Anything." The doctor sits down on the edge of my bed. "Are you having any other difficulties that you need to discuss with me? I have a phone number that I gave Vivian that you can call whenever about that kind of stuff."

"Well...sort of." I hesitate. I'm about to contradict the same belief I had in myself when I talked to Mr. Bear a little while ago. "Um...is it safe for me to keep going to school?"

She blinks. Obviously, that wasn't the question she intended on answering. "Um...well, I suppose so. Why?"

"Just curious. I mean, I'm due in June, so I figure I might as well continue, but..." I shrug. "I don't know if it's such a good idea, what with this happening and all."

"I..." The doctor appears to be struggling to reply. "Well, I can't decide that for you. If you think it's too hard for you emotionally and physically, then...I guess not. But one little incident like this shouldn't determine something like that. Remember, this stuff is normal."

"Okay." I nod, biting my lip. "Thank you."

After she leaves, I turn over, thinking about what happened today and what it has me thinking about. Sure, the doctor said it was normal, but then again, I'm not at the normal age for a pregnancy. It may be normal for someone in their late twenties and beyond, but...I'm not in that age range. So I don't know what to do.

What _should _I do?

**Next Chapter Preview: All right, guys...this is the 'pure hell' chapter I was talking about a few chapters ago. We finally learn more about what Daphne was talking about to Katie last chapter and whether it's even true. Holly and Irving have a massive argument outside of Holly's home.**

* * *

**So, I've given you even more unexpected surprises in this chapter, no? First Ginger says why she always gossips about everyone, and now Adyson is considering leaving school? I really hope she doesn't, but...you never know just what else could happen to her. I've got some more stuff up my sleeve, oh, yes I do.**

**Man. Torturing characters is so fun...and this chapter is insanely long. Wow.**


	36. Holly and Irving's Argument

_**Sunday, February 25, 7:24 PM**_

_**Irving's Place of Residence**_

_**Irving**_

"I'm not understanding this," I inform Katie, who is currently standing in my front doorway, arms crossed since she's cold. She refused to take off her white coat when I offered her inside after a moment of shock, since, after all, we're not exactly friends, shaking her head when I did so. "So someone's accusing me of putting that information about Adyson online? I mean, do I _wish_ I had come up with the idea?"

"I certainly hope that answer is no," Katie interjects. She moves her foot from one edge of the carpet to the other, but keeps her gaze on me.

"It was," I assure her, moving aside so that she can step into the living room. I walk into the nearby kitchen and grab a bag of pretzels from the cupboard. "But I swear, I didn't. I may not like Adyson much, but...that's just downright cruel."

"It is," Katie agrees, grabbing a pretzel stick and beginning to munch on it. "Extremely cruel. I would have rather heard it from her than from the school website that nobody monitors correctly. You would think the school would care a little more about its reputation..." Her voice trails off. "That came out wrong, didn't it?"

"...Maybe," I say after a moment's hesitation. "I know what you meant, though."

"Good." She finishes her pretzel and glances at the bag, then picking it up and turning it around. "What brand _is _this?"

"No idea." I shrug. "Mom gets them from the clearance rack at the grocery store." I turn the subject back to the more serious matter here as she nods thoughtfully. "By the way...who _is _this girl, anyway?"

Katie rolls her eyes. "This girl in my dance class that I've known for way too long. I would think you would know who she was, since she for some reason is one of the most popular girls in school. Daphne Burkholder?"

I make a face, having recognized the name. "Oh," I say in a disgusted manner, wrinkling my nose. "_Her_. She's always making fun of the way I'm obsessed with Phineas and Ferb, like it's _her _business what I do with my life."

"So you know her."

"Unfortunately."

She nods. "Well, during dance class about three weeks ago, she told me, while I was fantasizing about Phineas-" She blushes slightly when my eyes go wide. Does she..._like _Phineas? How did_ I _not know about this? "Um..." Katie chuckles nervously. "Anyway... she said that you were the one that revealed Adyson's secret. She asked me if I wanted to know how she got that information, and since my mind was taken over by something else...I said no."

"Okay, first of all," I begin, pointing to her. "You still have a crush on Phineas?"

"Don't tell _anyone_," she says urgently, blush rising up her cheeks. She makes an effort to cover them with her hands, of which have red gloves on them. The gloves match her cheeks. "Isabella already nearly killed me the first time I revealed it. I don't want to go through that process again."

"Fair enough," I nod. "Second of all..." I begin to frown. "There's no way she could have _gotten _any evidence. I didn't do it, and I never would have if the idea even came up." I hesitate. "I will admit that I _did _know before it came on the site, though...thanks to some of my security cameras-"

"You have security cameras?" she interrupts. A strange look is on her face. "Not just in Phineas and Ferb's backyard? Okay...that's a _little _creepy, Irving."

"I know, I know," I moan. "You don't need to tell me. But back to the subject at matter. Just because I knew about it before doesn't point to the idea that I did it. Isabella, Vienna, Django, Baljeet, Ginger, and Aubrey knew before, too. That makes them just as big of culprits as I am. But they all insisted they didn't tell anyone else."

Katie chews on the bottom of her lip, appearing to think hard. "Well...you don't really know that they didn't...really, I only trust Isabella, Vienna, Django, and Baljeet with secrets. The other two, I would be suspicious about."

I raise an eyebrow. "You really think _Aubrey _would think about it hard enough to say, 'You know what? I'm going to tell something like this to everyone, that the stork is bringing Adyson a baby.' Come on, Katie."

"Yeah...I guess so." She still looks skeptical, though. "But what about Ginger? You know how big of a liar she can be when it comes to this kind of stuff."

"I do," I admit. "But she only told Baljeet; I know that for a fact. I saw through the camera in Baljeet's bedroom, don't comment about that, please, that she told him that she was only going to tell him so that she, quote, would 'tell somebody to get it out of her system', or something like that. Usually, once she does that, she's good."

"True..." Katie sighs. "But who else would there _be_ to tell the secret?"

"Well, I know from Ginger telling Baljeet that she hid in a bathroom stall and listened as Adyson told Isabella in the girls' locker room at cheerleading practice." I tap my finger on my chin. "Did anyone else happen to go back into the locker room when you guys were on your break and Adyson collapsed the pyramid?"

Katie leans over and places her elbows on the coffee table, hands on her forehead. Her eyes roll up to the ceiling as she appears to think. "God...it was like five months ago. I don't even remember," she mutters, breathing deeply and shutting her eyes.

"Take your time," I say quietly.

"Let me think...I know that after that happened, I was talking with Emily, Savannah...and I think Milly, too. Yeah, that's right. I know that Aubrey was playing by herself...Vienna was talking to Adyson, presumably about the whole thing, Isabella talked to Adyson later, I know that, and...crap. What were Lilly and Holly doing?"

I know at this point that she's talking with herself, so I keep silent and just listen.

"Oh, that's right, Lilly was standing by Coach, and Holly..." Her eyes suddenly pop wide open. "That's it!" she screams, nearly startling me out of my chair. "Holly went into the locker room with Ginger, and she didn't come out until practice started, again!"

"Easy, there," I warn her, rubbing my now tender eardrum. "Some of us are now at risk for deafness, here."

"Sorry." Katie blushes again, but her eyes still remain wide. "Irving...do you think it could have been..._Holly_?"

I blink, considering this, then shake my head. "No..." I say slowly, thinking of my enemy bitterly, but remaining focused. "Holly doesn't have any problem with Adyson. There's _no way _she would have done something like that."

"But think about it," Katie says slowly. "Weren't she and Aubrey still together at the time?"

"...Yeah," I say grudgingly. I kick randomly at the floor. "But what does _that _have to do with anything?"

"I don't mean to make you sound like a heartless person, but..." She looks at me intently. "Were you and Holly still mad at each other over the first love-triangle-involving-Aubrey fiasco?"

"Yep. And..." I bite my lip and turn away so that Katie can't see my expression, which is wracked with guilt. "That was around the time when I convinced Aubrey to come back to me, again, and Holly didn't know about it...yet."

"Man, you guys are confusing," she groans. "But you're missing my point, here. Was Holly still mad at you? Like...was she ever talking about revenge or anything like that with you?"

"Not really," I say truthfully. "Why? I don't get what you're trying to say."

"What I'm trying to say is...maybe _this _is her revenge, making it look like you did something horrible and then get all the blame for it, making everyone upset at you, making _her _happy." Katie looks at me harder. "I don't think any of this _truly _involves Adyson, in all honesty...in fact, I think it truly involves _you_."

I sit back in my chair at this point, thinking all of this through. All of what Katie just told me is swirling around in my head. Would Holly really hurt someone else so much only to make _me _look bad? And to think I thought there was a good person _way _deep inside of her. Anger starts to flow through my veins. Literally, I start shaking.

"Um..." Katie hesitates. "Do you want me to go now, Irving? I...think I should..."

"Please," I say. Before she can leave, however, I call out, "Wait."

She stops and turns around, right before she was able to get to the doorway. "Yeah?"

"...Thank you," I tell her after a moment of both of our unspoken words just hovering in the air. "Seriously, thank you."

"No problem," she assures me. She rolls her eyes. "But to think it was Daphne Burkholder that made us realize all of this." Right before she closes the door, she gives me a small smile, then closing it quietly. It's kind of strange how nice she is to everyone, even people like me who she barely even knows.

After her departure, I stand up, walk over to the coat rack right by that same front door, and grab my own coat. As I stuff my arms into the arms holes, I narrow my eyes as I consider what I'm about to do.

I am going to call Holly out for what she's done. I've wanted to talk with her for a while anyway about the whole Aubrey issue, so this ought to be good. She'll finally realize how wrong she is.

* * *

_**Ten minutes later, the Walker residence**_

_**Holly**_

"God_damn _it!" my dad yells. He throws some of his potato chips at the television screen as his team's rival scores another touchdown. This just so happens to be the team that beat his in the playoffs, so he _really _holds a grudge against them now. This is the final game of the year, though, otherwise known as like the big championship, so of course he's going to watch it.

My mom and I stand back, uncertain looks on our faces. "Um, Dad?" I ask. "Are you okay?"

He turns around, face bright red. He takes a deep breath. "No, Holly. I am not."

"Give your father some space," Mom tells me quietly as she steers me away from him. "You know how aggressive he can get during these kinds of events. It's what we get for being in the same house as a football fan."

"I heard that," my dad calls out. Clearly, Mom wasn't quiet enough. She shoots me a sheepish look before disappearing back into the kitchen, which is where she is half the time.

All of a sudden, the doorbell rings, startling all of us, especially my dad. He literally throws the entire bowl of potato chips into the air out of fright, making them rain down on himself as well as the couch he's sitting on and the floor surrounding it. Mom crosses her arms and glares at him, making him chuckle nervously, and she then looks at me. "Would you mind getting that, Holly?"

"Sure." I shrug as I pass my dad, who is picking up as many chips as he can. I have to struggle not to start laughing by how ridiculous he looks on the floor, but I do keep a smile on my face as I walk over to the door and open it. Seeing who's there wipes the smile right off.

It's...Irving. Whoop-de-doodle-doo. What could _he _possibly want? But before I can say anything, he whispers, "Get out here."

"Why?" I whisper in reply.

"Just do it. Please."

I sigh, open the closet to retrieve my coat, and as I'm putting it on, I yell out, "I'll be right back, Mom. I have to talk to someone."

"All right." She continues to stir the pot of soup she has on the stove.

That said, I finish zipping up my coat and then walk outside, where Irving awaits. He adjusts his glasses, and, upon seeing me, begins to frown. "I know you did it," he immediately says as soon as I quietly shut the front door.

I give him an odd look as I wrap my arms around myself and shiver. Even in this coat, it's freezing out here. "Did _what_?"

"Reveal Adyson's secret." He crosses his arms as my eyes widen. How he doesn't appear to be cold, I'll never know. "Someone else and I have put a ton of evidence together, and it all points to you and how you're jealous of me and Aubrey."

Hearing him say Aubrey's name makes my heart ache. I try not to let this pain pass over my face, instead giving a look. "What _kind _of evidence?" I try not to make my voice sound shaky, and it succeeds. Sort of.

"Like...how you were in the locker room when Adyson revealed her secret to Isabella."

"So was Ginger," I point out, shifting my position uncomfortably.

"Yes, but here's another thing." He starts to walk slowly around me, like I'm a criminal and he's investigating me at court. "You and I were still mad at each other over what happened last spring. Since I had quote 'stolen' Aubrey before you got her back, you wanted revenge."

"Revenge?" I try to sound like I have no clue what he's talking about.

"Yes. Revenge." He stops circling me when he gets to be in front of me again, instead staring me down. "So you decided to post Adyson's secret online, and sound like me, and before long, people would start to 'realize'," He uses quote fingers for this, "That I was the one that told Adyson's secret. Then everyone would be mad at me, making you happy that I was the one suffering for once."

I say nothing.

"Is this true?" he demands, stepping closer to me. "Tell me _right now _if this is true so that I, or heck, maybe even _you, _can tell Adyson that you were the one that made her life a living _hell_."

I sniffle, then taking a shuddery breath. "...It is," I admit, wiping a tear from my eye. I shrug. "You caught me. I made her life miserable so that _yours _would be miserable. And I feel terrible about it...really, I do."

"Do you?" he accuses me. "_Do _you feel terrible about it? Or is it just Adyson?"

Is he serious? "Of _course _it's just Adyson," I snort, starting to frown. "Why would I feel terrible about _you_? You _deserve_ that hate."

"In what way?" He starts to laugh. "How do _I _deserve to be treated cruelly? Because I convinced Aubrey that she was better with _me_?"

"Or did you _force _her?"

Irving stops laughing right then, now looking at me. My fists are clenched, as I feel ready to punch him at any second. "W-What?" he stammers, now stepping back a good two feet. "What do you mean, did I force her?"

"Exactly that," I accuse him, voice shaking with anger. "Tell me _exactly _what you said to her to make her come back to you."

He hesitates. Now he looks guilty. "Um...well, um..."

"_Say it_," I hiss. "Say. What. You. _Said. _To. Her."

"All right, all right." He sighs. "I told her that...she should come back to me, because you were trouble."

"And?"

"That's...all I can remember." He bites his lip. "But I know there was something else, too-"

"So you threatened her." I fake a laugh, when inside, I'm burning up like I live in the bottomless pits of hell. I've never felt more angry in my life. "You effing _threatened her _to stay with you when she was perfectly happy with _me_. I knew it. I...effing..._knew _it."

"It sounds worse than it is, believe me," Irving protests, his tone troubling, as he sees the tears rolling down my cheeks. "I only said those things after she complained about you when we talked to each other. So, really, she _wasn't _happy with you."

I rub my head, feeling like I'm in the middle of a soap opera. Yet, come to think of it...I just _might_ be in one. "And you think she's happy with _you_?" I ask him, my voice cracking. "She's been more miserable than she ever _has_ been in the past few months."

"No, she hasn't," he argues. "I've been tutoring her-"

"Not well," I interrupt, looking up at the sky. Unlike this argument, it looks so peaceful and free up there. "I was in the library one time when you were doing a study session with her, and you were practically yelling at her at one point. She looked to the point of _tears_."

His eyes go wide again, and he stares at me in shock. "Are...you serious?"

"_YES!_" I scream, throwing my hands up in the air. "_Why _can't you understand that _your_ teaching style doesn't go with _her _learning style? _Why _can't you understand that she still loves Santa Claus? _Why _can't you understand that she doesn't love you?" I swallow. "By the way... I'm not trying to steal Aubrey back from you again. She's not a tug-of-war rope. What I _am _trying to do is protect her from getting hurt. And by staying with you...she's getting pretty _damn_ hurt."

Irving stays quiet after this, looking down at the ground. He blinks repeatedly. "I...didn't know," he finally says after about a minute's worth of silence. "I...didn't know she felt that way."

With that, he turns around, and, without any warning, bolts off of the front porch, running farther and farther away until all he is is a speck of something that almost looks like nothing.

**Next Chapter Preview: Gretchen finally meets with Isabella again, revealing all of her hidden feelings built up throughout the years and answering some questions that have been brought up.**

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**Well. How was **_**that **_**for a plot twist? And to think all of you thought it was Irving...**


	37. Gretchen Explains it All

_**Tuesday, March 13, 3:03 PM**_

_**The Gym**_

_**Gretchen**_

I glance down at the list I prepared especially for doing this, my hair falling into my face. I blow it away as I look down. Being sure that I'll cover everything that I want to, I crumple up the list, peek out the doors, and, after being sure that there aren't any custodians right outside, push the insanely heavy doors open and step outside into the hallway.

I've attempted to avoid this conversation all year. I tried to have it at the very beginning, but because my former best friend freaked out so much about my startling new appearance, I figured it was better to hold it off until she could get the image fresh in her mind and then finally have a good, civil talk with me.

Quite frankly, one would think that I would have had this conversation with Isabella _far _before I went this far, dressing so unlike myself and smoking to get my true feelings about what's happened out. But, alas, I did not. And while I've been angry with Isabella for many, many years because of her ignorance/naivety to what was even going on, I still feel that she has the right to know _why _I'm angry. So that's why I am going to catch her off guard and talk to her in an impromptu manner.

Before I went 'missing' around the middle of last summer, Isabella and I compared schedules for the next year. Well, actually...Isabella told me _her _schedule. I had one, but didn't tell her, for...reasons that I'll explain later.

_"So, Gretchen," Isabella said excitedly as I walked into Phineas and Ferb's backyard. Phineas had already greeted me, of which I had simply just nodded, and I was making my way to the end of the yard when she had interrupted that._

_"Yes?" was my reply, turning around and crossing my arms, mentally groaning._

_"Do you have your schedule?" she wondered. God, she was practically bouncing_ _in her step. "I have mine, and I have _really _good classes. I'm excited for them."_

_"No," I said truthfully. "I don't. Have my schedule, I mean."_

_"Oh." Isabella frowned. "That's odd. I wonder why that is."_

_"Yeah." I chuckle nervously, looking away and praying to God that somebody else would come into the backyard. Why did I have to be the second one there? "I...wonder why."_

_She shrugged. "Oh, well. It doesn't matter. Hey, can I tell you mine?" I didn't even say anything before she started talking. Again. She said some stuff about her classes, and I don't even remember what she said other than the fact that she was staying after school for some kind of journalism thing every day. And then Emily Kinney walked into the yard, so Isabella stopped talking to me and went over to her. Typical._

It's a good thing I remembered what she said, because now I'm taking that to my advantage and meeting her in the computer lab, where the Journalism classes take place during the school day. She, if I recall correctly, is the head of the newspaper here at the high school, and I have to admit, she's good at it. Even when we were Fireside Girls and editing the Fireside Girls Gazette, which really, not many people bought, she was good at it. I'm not surprised that it's what she wants to do for her future career.

The computer lab is in the English section, which really isn't far from the gym, so it's not long before I reach it. I peer inside the little window attached to the door to see, to my relief, that only Isabella is in there, typing away on the computer. I notice the way she's always chewing on her hair and looking nervous, which surprises me a little. Normally, she seems so confident in herself. Now...not so much.

Taking a deep breath and praying that this will go well, I push open the door and take in the setting. Obviously, being a computer lab, there are about 30 computers in here sitting on top of really long, antiquated-looking wooden desks, and there are chairs in front of each one. The chairs look insanely uncomfortable with the way the backs are positioned, completely straight up and down and stiff.

Isabella turns around at the sound of my arrival, and she turns around. A startled look is painted on her face, and I have to wonder how often people come in here when she's working. From her expression...probably not often. "Oh, hello," she states without even looking at me. "What do you..." That's when she looks up, finally, and at the sight of me, her eyes widen. Her face turns eerily pale. "Oh, God-"

"Wait," I interrupt before she can say anything further. She halts her talking, looking at me fearfully instead. I roll my eyes. "Isabella, I'm not a freaking witch about to turn you into a frog. I'm freaking _Gretchen_, and I know that you hate frogs. Talk to me like you _always _have." I decide to sit down in one of the stiff chairs, one that's right next to her.

My former Fireside Girls troop leader hesitates. "Well...um...all right." She has a skeptical look on her face, though.

"All right." I move the chair away from the table so that I can cross one of my legs over the other. It'll make this seat semi-comfortable, if anything. "First off...you probably have no idea what the hell happened to me. Am I correct when I say that?"

"Please don't use that language," is the first thing she says in reply. She looks away, biting her lip and running one finger through her hair. "And...yes. I really, really don't."

I nod. "Fair enough. So...where do you want me to start?"

Isabella glances uneasily at her computer screen, as if the thing she's typing is so utterly important that she can't listen to me talk. I've listened to her talk while I was quiet so many times for the past seven years. It's about time the roles were reversed, and she knows it, too. I can see it in those big blue eyes of hers that look like the calm, flowing waters of Hawaii.

Since she isn't talking, I assume she just wants me to start at the beginning. I sigh, knowing that this part is going to be the hardest to tell. After all...she and Emily are best friends. I clear my throat and start to tell the story that I've so far only told Adyson and Milly, and even for them, it was limited. "So, I'm going to begin this tale by going back to the summer your boyfriend and his brother started to invent."

She perks up. "Phineas? What does _he _have to do with this?"

"Nothing really," I inform her. "Phineas still doesn't have an idea that any of this has happened. He still thinks we're all best friends, when, as you know... we're definitely not."

Isabella nods slowly, looking disappointed. I resist the urge to roll my eyes again/

"All right...so, do you remember the day I met Emily Kinney?"

"My best friend, Emily Kinney?"

I roll my eyes. "No, Emily Kinney, the drug dealer," I sarcastically inform her, and her cheeks flush. "_Yes, _your best friend. Anyway, so it was about a week after she came, and we, the Fireside Girls, were helping out with an invention, when _she _came into the yard."

_I looked up at the mirror, wiping one of the smudges on it away and adjusting my round, wire-framed glasses at the same time. "It looks about done, Chief."_

_Isabella, as well as the other Fireside Girls, took a look at it. Some of them were gaping. "Holy cow, Gretchen," Adyson said incredulously. "How did you get that done _so _fast?"_

_"I don't know," I said somewhat smugly, feeling a sense of pride. Though I never liked to admit it, I liked to be the center of attention once in a while in our group. Usually, that attention went to Isabella, not that it was undeserved. After all, she _was _the leader. "I just know what Phineas and Ferb like, so I know to get it done quickly."_

_"How come nobody knows what _Baljeet _likes?" Ginger whined. Milly and Katie gave her weird looks._

_Isabella, deliberately ignoring Ginger, walked up to my mirror, examining it while placing her hand under her chin. She nodded, smiling at me. "Looks great, Gretchen. Phineas and Ferb's House of Mirrors: With Slapstick Comedy Added, will be able to be done even more quickly with your help." She looked at the others. "With all of you, of course-"_

_"Um, excuse me?" we heard someone say, and we all turned around to see a girl with blond hair and a blue hair bow walk up to us. On her face was a confused expression. "Where's Ferb?"_

_"Who are you?" Holly wondered, and the girl blushed slightly._

_"Emily Kinney," she informed us. Emily then offered a smile. "Hello, Isabella. What are you lot making?"_

"...And that's when she started helping us, and then I praised her work, saying it was the best..." Isabella's voice trails off. "Oh."

"That's what started all of it," I tell her, nodding. "You picking Emily over me as the best. It was just a childhood rivalry thing, but it grew over time."

"How much?" Isabella's eyes grow wide. "Wait. So...you're telling me that you and Emily were never actually friends like you claimed to be?"

"I'm sure Emily thought we were. She's...too nice to realize what she's actually doing or saying half the time. But..." I shrug. "You are correct."

"...Oh," she says again. "Well...um..."

"To put it simply, I held that grudge for her all throughout childhood, especially when you started hanging out with her more often. And whenever _we _would have a conversation, Emily would just kind of butt in, and you would start talking to her, ignoring me. It's _always _been like that."

Isabella stares at me, her expression undefinable. "Oh..."

"Before long, high school started. And since we were both honors students...we had many classes together. You were in them as well. When we had projects together? You guys worked together and ignored me. When we would review for a test? You guys worked together and ignored me. When we changed our seats? You guys sat together and ignored me. When we-"

"Stop." She swallows. "I get it. I was a jerk." She takes a shuddery breath. "I...didn't think it was really affecting you, though, us being friends. You never _said _anything."

I blink, not really knowing how to reply. She does have a point. "Well...yes." I clear my throat. "I...should have said something earlier."

"Before..._this _happened." Isabella gestures at me again, taking a tissue from a random box and blowing her nose. "I didn't know you were going to go this crazy. Nobody did." She blinks a few times and looks up at the ceiling, trying to avoid the tears from falling. "Oh, and...I have some questions for you."

"Questions? Also known as interrogative statements?" I raise my eyebrows. "Ask them."

"Um...why do you live under the bleachers? And...why don't you go to your classes, at the very least?"

I freeze. I didn't think she would be able to think about either of those things. Isabella sees my expression, quickly backtracking. "I mean, you don't have to say, but-"

"No," I decide to reply. I gulp. I've never explained this part to anyone, not even Adyson or Milly. They've never asked. "I... have to. You asked me at the beginning of the year why I was the way I was. Or, to put it in your exact words..." I begin to imitate her. "'What _happened_''?"

She nods, a tiny smile playing at her lips, and waits for me to continue.

"Since you've waited since September for the answer to that question, since I blew you off at the time...you deserve it right now as we sit in this stuffy computer lab. By the way..." I wrinkle my nose, suddenly realizing how bad it smells in here. "How do you _come _in here every day?"

"I'm used to it." She shrugs, not wanting to say any more, clearly.

So, therefore, I begin. "This past summer...was hard. Extremely hard. Obviously, it was the summer before our senior year, and I was preparing for this year more than I had prepared for any other year. Plus, things at home weren't that great, with my parents announcing their divorce to my sisters and I."

"Your parents got divorced?" Isabella gasps. "Oh my God. I'm sorry."

I shrug. "It was about time it happened. We all knew it was coming; they hadn't talked to each other or anything in forever. But anyway, changing the subject back to what really happened in the summer that affected me, I was studying like crazy for all of the exams I knew that I would be taking. I hadn't gotten my schedule yet, but I knew what classes were offered for seniors. I knew I would be taking all Advanced Placement. Not to sound arrogant."

"I know you didn't mean to."

"Good. So, again, I was studying so often that I sometimes couldn't make it to Phineas and Ferb's. Actually...very often, I couldn't make it."

"I remember."

"This all continued until, one day, my mother received a phone call from a certain Ivy League school. As to what that school was...I don't remember. But they told her..." I can't help but smile at this, even if the aftereffects are painful. "That they were impressed with me and wanted me to attend there a whole year early. I wouldn't even have to attend my last year of school."

"Can you do that?" Isabella's eyes are wider than they have been, yet.

"Technically, I already had enough credits to graduate, which is what I _should _have done," I explain. "But I didn't, which ended up being... a huge mistake in the long run."

"Why? What happened?"

"See..." I sigh. "The high school informed them after their call to me and after my mother told them about it that I hadn't yet graduated and wouldn't be able to until the end of my senior year. After all, it would be pretty stupid to have me graduate in the summer."

"No, it wouldn't," Isabella argues. "What difference does it make?"

"I don't know, but...the college shot me down after the high school told them that, also informing me that I wouldn't be allowed to apply next year since what I had done was 'irresponsible'."

Isabella's hand flies up to her mouth. "No!"

"Yes. Unfortunately."

"How the heck is that _irresponsible_? Who do they think they are?"

"Who cares? But anyway, after this happened, I...had a bit of a breakdown. All that had happened to me over the past seven years, all of my issues with you and Emily, always being pushed to the side in our large group of friends, being treated like bird crap...finally left me and exploded that day. The college changing its mind about me was the last straw. I went _insane_."

"Um..." She hesitates. "Define 'insane'."

"As in..." I reach up to grab pieces of my hair, most of it grown out past my shoulders now. "Dying my hair like this, with permanent dyes of various colors, which explains why I have multicolored hair except for three inches of brown up top. I...haven't re-dyed since September."

Isabella looks up at my hair, not being able to help but wince at it. I don't think she's ever really gotten a good look at it. "Oh."

"I also burned some random things, and...I dyed my clothes black as well as bought some things, such as what you see on me now. That was also the day in which I had my first cigarette. By the way...I could use one right now..."

"Not in here," Isabella says urgently as I pull out my pack from my pocket. "If you _have _to...don't do it in here."

"No, of course not. I was kidding." I roll my eyes, putting the cigarettes away. "The school would get sued if cigarette smoke was found in the building. That's why I always do it in the gym or in the bleachers. The gym already smells bad enough as it is, and the bleachers...well, nobody goes in there."

"Why _do _you live there?"

"...I ran away," I inform her after a moment's hesitation. "I was so upset and so ashamed at myself for all that happened, for feeling like such a joke...that the next morning, the morning after the evening in which I went crazy, I left a note explaining my reasons for leaving, all of which you already know...and then I left. I kind of broke into the school since there's practically no security here, and, well...they still don't know where I am."

Isabella's face is twisted with pain. "So you're telling me that you've been _missing _for the past six months, at least, to them?"

"Well...we're still in contact. We talk all the time on the phone and stuff. They know I'm alive. I just...haven't told them where I am. Ariel and Tara actually _did _see me in the hallway a few weeks ago, but...obviously, they didn't recognize me under all of..._this_."

"Ariel and Tara...? Oh, your sisters."

"Almost seventeen years old and fifteen years old. Yep, I know who they are."

"But..." Isabella pauses. "If they saw you...why didn't you tell them who you were?"

"I didn't want to freak them out." I give her a look. "What did _you _think? If you had a sister, do you think, that after not seeing her for six months, you would want to see her looking _nothing _like she did the last time you saw her? And in a bad way?"

She hesitates. "Well...no. I see your point." Isabella finally truly looks into my eyes, which I didn't feel like putting as much makeup around today, for some reason. "Seriously though, Gretchen...I don't mean to sound like I don't care, but...you need to get over what's happened. And to start that...I need to apologize. I am _insanely _sorry."

"For what?" I cross my arms and uncross my legs, which were starting to feel crampy from sitting in that position for so long.

"For...being a bad friend. I mean..." She sniffs. "Emily and I will always be friends. Nothing will change that."

"I know."

"...But I shouldn't have been so ignorant to you when she arrived in Danville. Really, Gretchen...I'm so sorry all of this has happened to you. You...had such a bright future, too." Isabella sighs. "Now what are you going to do? We can't make things go back to the way they were at this point. It's March. You can't change back."

"Who says I want to change back?"

Isabella blinks at me, halting her near-tears. This was not the response she was expecting, and the look on her face makes that clear. "Um..._what_?"

"I don't want to change back. You know that from the way I've been talking to you."

"Do I?" She looks at me harder, giving me the look she gives when she's trying to appear to be intimidating but failing miserably. "_Do _I know you?" She stands up, now, and points to me. "You're telling me that you told me your _whole_ life story, about why you are the way you are now, and you don't want to change _back_? Are you joking with me?"

Well. _This _conversation took quite the turn. Now I'm feeling ill at ease. Isabella's tone is starting to get scary. That's never a good thing. "Well, it wouldn't make _sense_. Like you said, it's March. I can't change back to the way I was at this point." I notice that my voice is shaking.

"Why? Why not?" Now she's full-out screaming, and I resist the urge to cover my ears. "You could go back to your house if you want to and sleep in an actual _bed_. You could eat food not from the cafeteria. You could see all of us on a regular basis again. You could go to _freaking _school and learn more. You yourself told me that you love to learn not so long ago. Yet, what do you do? You choose _this_."

"Isabella." I swallow. "Please. You've got to understand-"

"But I _don't_," she interrupts. "I don't understand why you can't be like a normal person and-"

"I don't want to hear any more." I try to swallow the lump in my throat, but it's not going away. "You don't understand. Your life... is perfect. Mine?" I finally let a few tears fall, releasing a little bit of the lump. "Was crap. Freaking..._crap_, regardless of what you believe. But you wouldn't understand." I walk back towards the door of the computer lab. "I shouldn't have talked to you. It was the worst idea I've ever had."

"Gretchen-" Her voice cracks.

"Go away." I open the door, blinking repeatedly. It's probably a very good thing I barely put any makeup on this morning. "I never want to see you again."

"You don't mean that." Damn it. She's crying like the annoying priss she is. "Gretchen, you _don't _mean that-"

"But I do." At that point, I slam the door and run down the hallway as fast as I can, hoping she doesn't follow me.

She doesn't.

**Next Chapter Preview: After another tutoring session, Django comes over to visit Lilly, where she confesses to him something she's been keeping in for a while.**

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***groans* GOD...so much drama. This is a **_**terrible **_**Phineas and Ferb fanfiction. It really, really is...yet, I love to write it. It's really kind of a "What if?" kind of story, you know? I mean...I know **_**none **_**of what's happened in this story would actually happen in the show. As in, **_**none**_** of this. I get that. But it's still so fun to write and think about what would happen if it did. I don't know.**

**Oh, and for those of you asking me about how much longer this story will be...I'm estimating around fifteen more chapters. Hey, there's still a lot of material to cover. XD Patience will be needed from you guys for all of these conflicts to wrap up.**


	38. Lilly Denies It All

_**Saturday, March 17, 11:01 AM**_

_**The Stephens/ Carlson Residence**_

_**Lilly**_

"You're late," I inform Darren as I hold the door open for him and he walks in, backpack over his shoulder. I glance at my watch. "By...exactly one minute."

Darren turns around and stops walking over to the dining room table, giving me a look. "Yeah, okay. A minute." He rolls his eyes. "I'm surprised you suddenly care as to when I get here."

"It means you'll be leaving faster the sooner you get here, so yes, I do care," I inform him as he keeps on walking. I shut the door then, making sure not to look directly at him for certain reasons.

He doesn't say anything in reply, just giving a little moan. He knows how good I am at insulting people. Considering we've had these tutoring sessions for a few months now, we've gotten to know each other pretty well. I've come to learn that he hated coloring books as a little kid, that he prefers headphones over earbuds, that he, to my surprise, likes all kinds of music (not just Beethoven and Mozart, like I thought...), and that math is his favorite subject, along with a lot of other things. Thankfully, he had felt that just me doing work while he watched and offered some guidance was boring, so we talked a lot about...stuff.

Once reaching the dining room table, he puts his backpack down on the floor and begins to take out things like a folder, of which I see 'Math' written on them in perfect cursive. Ugh. He then finally looks up at me, and his eyebrows go up slightly. "Red?" he comments as I wheel myself up to the edge of the table.

I nod, smiling. I didn't know if he would even notice. "Yep," I tell him, stroking one of the red streaks in my hair that I put in myself. "I did them yesterday night. I considered dying my whole head this color, but...I haven't had red hair since this big hair dying fiasco last year, and I don't really want to relive it. Yet."

"Hair dying fiasco?" He's trying not to laugh; I can tell by the way he's biting his lip down hard. He pulls out my math notebook from his backpack and tosses it my way, of which I catch it and place it onto the table. "Explain, _por favor_."

"Well..." I sigh. "Basically, my now ex-boyfriend Irving wanted us to have matching hair colors so that we would look even more like a couple."

"Wouldn't...that make you look more like brother and sister?" Darren gives me a strange look as he sits down at the table.

"That's what I said." I shrug. "But anyway, since I hadn't dyed my hair a whole color before, out of paranoia, I bought maybe six boxes of dye since I didn't know how much I would need. And I failed to read what colors were on the box. Why? Because I was a dumbass."

He snickers. "Uh oh. I see where this is going."

I sigh, also wincing at the memory. "I...ended up dying my hair a color that rivaled the Grinch's. It...was a bright..._bright _green."

The laugh Darren emits afterwards could possibly be heard from the North Pole. He has to hold on to the table to keep from falling out of his chair. I cross my arms and glare at him, avoiding his face so I don't start blushing. "It's not funny."

"Yes," he gasps, covering his mouth while still laughing uncontrollably. He attempts to breathe in, presumably to calm down, but fails miserably. "Yes, it is. I'm just imagining you with green hair, and I just-" He starts laughing again.

"So, _anyway_, I looked through the other bottles of dye, with some help from certain people, and found a box of red dye. All of the others were pink, and I sure as hell wasn't going to have pink hair. So I just dealt with the red hair, and according to people, it looked good on me."

He finally takes a _very _deep breath, stopping his laughter. "Okay. I'm good." He glances at me again. "I'm sorry, Lilly. It's just..." The corners of his lips twitch again.

"Don't even think about it," I threaten.

"I'm not going to laugh again. Relax." He looks over at my math folder now, breaking his gaze on me. He doesn't do anything to the folder, though, just looks at it. "By the way...you _would _look good with red hair."

I can't help but start to blush. "Well...thank you." I turn away so that he can't see my face flaming. I honest to God feel as if I'm in the middle of a volcano as it spews its lava around me.

"You're welcome," he says simply, completely oblivious. Now he actually _does _grab the folder, taking a paper out of it. "So, now that you have caught up in your English, Chemistry, and Government classes, we are now going to tackle your absolute _favorite _subject. Pre-Calculus."

"Damn it," I grouchily say automatically, and he chuckles.

"Believe me, it's not _that _bad. And you're going to need it if you're going to college." He glances at me. "You are, right?"

"I want to be a cosmetologist, so yes, yes I am. But here's the thing." I begin to frown. "Why the hell will I need to know Pre-Calculus to be one of those? It's _makeup_. You don't use math in makeup." Darren opens his mouth, but I cut him off. "And don't bother trying to argue with me. I _know _that you don't. It's a fact."

He sighs. "Lilly...this is one of those times where you simply just jump to conclusions and assume. I actually agree with you."

I blink. "What? You do?"

"Yeah. I mean...it's still a great thing to know, and it helps your brain function more properly due to you thinking more clearly and developing even more scientific methods inside of your head. But it doesn't necessarily have to be scientific. See-"

"Darren." My interruption causes him to stop and look at me, so I continue. "You of all people should know that I don't give a crap about your big 'scientific' speeches."

"Right...I apologize. So...um..." He hesitates, obviously forgetting what he was going to say. I know that he would never admit it if I asked about it, though. "Um...oh. So you remember the process behind it?"

"Uh...no. Who do you think you're _talking _to?"

Is it just me, or is there a tint of pink on his cheeks? I bet it's just me. The lighting in here _is _a little funky, sometimes. "Well, I'll explain it to you, then."

With that said, he explains to me the whole process behind it, and I ask him questions, and he gives me answers. Darren's right; he _is _good at this stuff. He's a much better teacher than my current Pre-Calc teacher, who kind of just gives us a worksheet and is like, 'Have fun'. Darren actually understands that I suck at this stuff, so he's always patient with me. It's kind of funny how we used to really not like each other that much. Now...it's pretty much the opposite of that.

Nearly an hour passes before I'm done with the first worksheet, and, thankfully, it's the only one Darren has. He must have known how long it would take me to do it. "_Finally_," I groan, scooching up my chair a few more inches so that I can cross my arms over the table to bang my head on top of them. Just banging my head on the table hurts, plus, it leaves a mark. The table's white. "That took _forever_."

"Well, at least you did it." Darren smiles. Whenever he does so, it's always with his mouth closed, except when he's laughing really hard like he was not so long ago. He grabs my folder and my worksheet, sticking it inside of the folder and carefully putting it into his backpack so it doesn't rip. He's quite the perfectionist, even when it comes to how his folders look. As he stands up and walks over to the door, he turns around one last time. "So...I'll see you in our History slash Government class on Monday."

"Sounds good." I nod. "See you then. I'll be sure not to abuse the use of my cell phone."

He laughs. "That's good. Bye, Lillian."

"Bye." My heart does that little jump it does whenever he calls me by my whole name. And normally, I hate it when people call me that. I watch him as he walks down our super long driveway, his hair blowing a little bit in the wind, him fixing it by shaking his head all around. I sigh at the sight of this, and as I'm about to close the door, someone says,

"Hey."

Completely startled, I almost close the door on my thumb. Thankfully, I don't, otherwise, I would have been really pissed off. I move my chair up about a foot and look out onto our porch to see Django, just casually sitting there. And, as usual, he's wearing his shorts. I seriously don't think I've ever seen him wear pants. "When the hell did you get here?" I demand as he stands up. I put my hands on my hips. "You scared the crap out of me."

"I'm sorry." The look on his face tells me that he's really not, however.

"Whatever." I roll my eyes and push my chair back as he walks over and into the house. "On a serious note though, what are you doing here?"

"What? I'm not allowed to see my cousin once in a while?"

"Um...no." I shrug, not exactly knowing how to reply. "You just...don't come here very often, that's all."

"Well, now I am." Right as I'm finally closing the door and locking it, he's arrived in the living room. I wheel my chair over to see him looking up at the ceiling and its intricately crafted crown moldings my dad did by hand. He sighs a little before turning around and seeing me giving him a peculiar look, of which he clears his throat awkwardly. "So, um..." Django looks around. "Is anyone else home?"

"Grandma's upstairs in God knows where, probably in her sewing room or something. She'll be down here sometime soon to start on lunch. Don's out getting the lawn mower fixed, and Grant's in the basement with his little friend."

Django smiles. "Who's this friend?" he wonders as he sits down at one of the barstools sitting by the counter in the kitchen. When we were younger, I remember my parents and I coming over here to Danville to visit my grandma and uncle once a year, and Django and his family would always come over. The two of us would always clumsily climb up onto these barstools and, as our legs were swinging over the sides, we would watch our grandmother bake something. Of course, we always got a lick of the batter.

It's weird how much things have changed. Now my parents are both gone, Django's so tall he can barely even _sit_ on the barstool, and I can't get out of my wheelchair unless someone lifts me out. Don has to do it every night when I go to bed, and it's so uncomfortable.

"It's this girl in his third grade class. Her name's Willow, I think," I tell Django in reply to his question. I shrug. "I don't know much about her, but Grant wouldn't shut up about her in the last week, so Don finally told him they could have a playdate. He was _thrilled_."

Django laughs. "That's typical of Grant."

"Yes." I nod slowly, thinking of my little brother that still has so much time left in this world. "Yes, it is."

He also nods in reply, and we kind of just sit there for a few seconds. Downstairs, I can vaguely hear the sound of screaming, as well as laughing immediately after.

"I should check on them," I say automatically, turning my chair around so it faces the basement, which I unfortunately can no longer go down in. "My...tutor was here for an hour, and they've been down there for even longer than that."

"Go ahead."

It's not long before I reach the door to the basement, which is open just a crack. I slide it just a little more open, which produces a squeaky sound as well as a whiff of something that smells odd. I shrug it off, figuring it's probably dust, and yell down, "Hey. You guys doing okay?"

I hear something that sounds soft, most likely a pillow, and more giggling insues. Little pitter patters of feet scramble up the stairs, some bumps along the way, and even more giggling. The dark brown hair of my brother is what I see first, followed by the curly blond hair of his friend. "Hi, Lilly," Grant greets me as he jumps onto the landing. He looks out into the kitchen, and his eyes brighten. "Hi, Django! I didn't know you were gonna be here, today."

"It was just decided today," our cousin informs him, smiling at him. Django's like the brother Grant never had. He then looks over at Willow, who is smiling shyly, her eyes suddenly grown wide. "Well, well, well. Who's _this _little lady?"

"Willow Crawley." The little girl blinks at him, a little bit of pink rising up onto her cheeks. "W-Who are _you_?"

"Django." He looks over at me with a knowing glance, and I cover my mouth as I snicker. Oh, young love.

"Oh." She makes a point of looking away, looking instead at Grant, who just appears to be confused, now.

"Is lunch ready?" he asks me after a moment's worth of hesitation. "Is that why you called us up? And...is Darren still here?"

"No to both questions. Grandma still isn't down here yet, and..." I will myself not to blush at the thought of Darren, though my heart still does that little flip. "Darren left about ten minutes ago."

Grant frowns. "Aw, man. I like Darren."

"You've never even met him," I point out. "I mean...not really."

"Who's Darren?" Willow asks Grant. She keeps sneaking glances at Django when she thinks we're not looking. It's hilarious.

"My sister's tutor." My brother glances at me. "He helps her learn more stuff." A bit of a smirk starts to play at the corners of his lips, but he doesn't say anything to me yet, instead nodding at Willow. "Go set up the pirate ship again. I'll be down in a minute."

"Aye aye, Captain." Willow salutes him before scurrying off into the basement, her blond curls bouncing behind her. Those have to be a nuisance to keep up with.

As soon as she's disappeared, Grant looks at me. In fact, he looks at me so hard that I'm about to squirm in my wheelchair. Until, of course, I remember that I can't do that. "What?" I ask him bitterly, picking up one of my red pieces of hair and examining it like I've never seen the color red before.

Django watches us, an amused look on his face. He's still sitting on that barstool.

"I think you have a secret," my brother announces, his head up high like he's some kind of official. Why do little kids _do_ that? "And you don't want to tell us what it is."

"Where did you get that?" our cousin wonders. He gives me an odd look, and I shrug and give him an _I don't know _expression.

"Well, Django, when did you and Adyson become boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Django bites his lip. "Uh...well..." He scratches the back of his neck. "We...broke up a few months ago, buddy. I don't remember anymore."

Grant's face falls. "Oh, that's too bad."

"Yes. I know."

"Never mind, then." Grant sighs. "I'll just say what I'm thinking." He looks at me again. "I think Lilly likes Darren."

I almost choke on my gum. "Say _what_?"

"You turned super bright red when I asked if he was here." He shrugs, as well as puts his hands up in the air the way little kids do it. "And you got a weird look on your face, almost like you were thinking about k-"

"That's quite enough, Grant." I chuckle nervously as I wheel my chair away from him and into the living room. "I'm sure Willow's waiting for you to...go play pirates with her. Why don't you...go downstairs?"

His eyes widen. "Oh my gosh. You're right." With that said, he literally runs back into the basement, where I hear someone yelling "BOO!" as well as somebody screaming in reply. I sigh, wheel my chair over to the door, and shut it closed.

Django watches me as I do this, arms crossed over his chest and smirking. "Weeeeell," he says in a tone that makes my face flush. He raises his eyebrows. "Is what your nine-year old brother said true? Does Lilly actually _hesitate _before telling someone she likes him, for once? What could this _mean_?"

"Shut up," I snap. "You of all people should know how a relationship _doesn't _work. You and I have had the most breakups in the group, I think."

"Large difference in numbers, though," Django points out. "You're...fairly unsuccessful, to put it simply, and I've only had two."

"Whatever. My point here is that you shouldn't be teasing me about liking someone, because you should know how hard it is." I moan, rubbing the sides of my face. "Neither of your relationships turned out successfully, but it still had to be hard to admit your feelings for both Vienna and Adyson, I would think."

He's silent for another minute. "So you _do _like him," he clarifies quietly, clearly not wanting to comment on the two.

I turn towards him, and just barely nod. "Mmm-hmm."

"Why?" When I give him an odd look, he backtracks. "I'm just curious. I mean...like I said earlier, you don't have a problem admitting your feelings for someone, not even with Irving."

"I don't know _what _I saw in him."

"You just weren't right for each other, that's all." He shrugs. "So...why is Darren different from the rest?"

"God, I don't know. Maybe it's because...he's smart, and even though he _is _a geek...he's a _good _geek. It's hard to explain. But yeah...when I say that, I mean that he doesn't boast about how good he is at school. Rather...he uses that for a good manner." I feel myself smile. "For tutoring those that aren't as good as he is."

Django only looks straight at me, but I can tell that he's listening from the way his head is cocked a little to the left and his hand is partly over his mouth, partly over his chin. Plus, he's also smiling.

"Plus, he's so easy to talk to. Really...I can talk to him about anything while I'm working on different worksheets. He's not boring like I originally thought he was. In fact, he's the exact opposite. And last but not least..." I smile even wider now, looking down into my lap. "He's good-looking. Like..._really_."

Django has a certain look on his face now, but I can't really define this look. He's still sitting in the same position as I described before, but now his eyes are all lit up.

"What?"

He still stays quiet, but before I can demand to know what he's thinking, his grin gets larger. "Lilly...I'm trying so hard not to laugh right now. So, _so _hard."

"_Why_?"

"Because you're in love." He laughs a little as my eyes go wide. "And you're not getting it. It's hilarious. Usually, it's the opposite way around."

"What are you talking about?" I indignantly question. "It's...just another one of my stupid crushes. I'll get over it."

"No." He shakes his head. "Look, I'm not an expert on love in any way whatsoever, but you won't get over him just like that if you ever even _do_. The way you talked about him...you seemed like a different person for two minutes, and in a good way. Away went the bitter, sarcastic girl I've seen since you moved to Danville, and in came the happy girl I knew before then. Face it, Lills. You're in love."

"_You _are officially insane," I inform him immediately. I shake my head. "There's no way it would even work out between me and Darren, anyway. We're totally different people."

"Are you?" He raises an eyebrow as he finally eases himself down from the barstool. "Are you really? I want you to think about that."

"I don't _have _to."

"Yeah, you do," he calls out over his shoulder as he walks over to the front door. "Hey, tell everyone that I say hi. Except to Grant...say bye from me to him. Willow, too."

"Fine."

"And seriously, Lilly," he says loudly as he opens the door after unlocking it. _"Think _about it. You're not as different as you think you guys are."

Before I have the chance to tell him that what he's saying is full of crap, he shuts the door, and I'm staring at it.

Maybe...he _is _right. And for once...maybe I'm wrong. No. I'm right. I know I am.

Do I?

**Next Chapter Preview: Monogram meets with Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, Emily, and the agents. What will ensue when that happens?**

* * *

**As you can see, Lilly's developed further feelings for Darren...what do you guys think about that? Who would have thought that something like that would even **_**happen**_**?**


	39. The Long Awaited Meeting

_**Wednesday, March 21, 7:20 AM**_

_**Up Above the Tri-State Area**_

Flying on his hang glider, Perry looked down at his watch anxiously. Why he was doing this, he really didn't have a clue, since it had been nearly a month and a half since Monogram had caught himself and Ferb telling about his secret to Phineas and Isabella, and nothing bad really had happened for a consequence. Yet.

That last word, _Yet_, was the word that kept ringing in Perry's mind every single time he went down to his lair in some way every day to brief with his boss, who hadn't really done a whole lot except for kind of waving him off and continuing his arguing with Carl. It was driving Perry insane, not that he would express that to anyone. Especially not Doofenshmirtz.

Speaking of Doofenshmirtz, Perry at this point had come within reaching distance of the tall purple building that somehow had not been utterly destroyed yet by one of Doof's schemes even though the platypus had been fighting against him for what had to have been close to fifteen years by now. Upon reaching this building, he flung out his bottom webbed feet and broke the windows that led to the evil scientist's labaratory, also throwing off his hang glider at the same time.

Doofenshmirtz turned around from whatever giant contraption he was working on, a somewhat irritated look on his face. He didn't appear to be at all fazed by his arch nemesis entering, nor by the windows being broken. "Oh, hello, Perry the Platypus," he muttered just loudly enough so that Perry could hear. "I'm afraid my latest -inator is not functioning very well today."

Perry rolled his eyes. He hated when things like this happened; it made for a very uneventful morning.

"But I figure I should tell you what it is anyway, right after I set you inside of your trap." He proceeded to press a button, and Perry found himself inside of a teacup his size, trapped by fake, brown, plastic liquid inside of it, only his upper body and head exposed. He turned his head one way, and then the other, as Doofenshmirtz shrugged.

"I know, I know, not my best work, but it had to do with what my evil scheme was going to be." Doofenshmirtz sighed before going back into flashback mode, which Perry had become quite used to.

"See, yesterday evening, I was reading the newspaper, which really is weird since I don't _read _the newspaper. But then I heard a knock at the door, and since I was tired and not _thinking _clearly, I answered it. I don't usually answer doors, Perry the Platypus, because, you know, that's not evil. But I did, and what did I get? Someone trying to sell me coffee! And I don't even _like _coffee, Perry the Platypus." He hesitated. "Well...unless there's a lot of sugar in it. But I don't think this coffee did."

Perry rolled his eyes.

"I see you rolling your eyes, Perry the Platypus. But it's true," Doofenshmirtz insisted, glaring at the agent. "So I closed the door on him without saying anything, and then I heard the doorbell ring again. So, of course, I answered it. And who was there? The _coffee man_, again!"

_No. Really? _Perry sarcastically thought.

"This happened over and over again until I got an idea. An idea that would take all of the coffee away from the Tri-State Area, meaning that the coffee man would lose his job. Also, it would mean that everyone would be tired, so they wouldn't be working, meaning _they _would lose their jobs, so they would have to come work for _me _and help me _rule_ the Tri-State Area!"

Perry gave him an unimpressed look, yawning at the same time.

"Oh, come on, Perry the Platypus. It was a good idea when I first thought of it, and you know it." Doofenshmirtz turned the frown that was focused onto his nemesis over to the -inator, sighing loudly at the same time. "But the -inator doesn't _work_. I tried fixing the different wires, I put different kinds of material around it, and I even took off the self-destruct button. But _nothing _worked."

It was at that time in which Perry's watch beeped. Perry, startled and with a sinking heart, looked up at the evil scientist, but he didn't seem to notice, continuing to ramble about nothing as he so often did.

"I just don't _understand_, Perry the Platypus. Normally, I would tell you my backstory, and then I would say, 'Behold, the Get-Rid-of-Coffee-inator!' Because, well, that's what it would have been called. And then I would tell you about how it was going to _work_ and why, and then you would get out of your trap, and then _ruin_ the -inator, and then I would curse you, and you would fly out of here. But, see, it looks like..."

Perry decided to finally tune him out, wondering why he had even tried to listen in the first place. He proceeded to look down at his watch, gulping and praying that whatever Monogram had to say was good.

The old man was looking up at him now, and, to Perry's surprise and relief, he didn't look angry. Just...confused. And a bit overwhelmed, as well. "Oh, morning, Agent P. I need to ask you something. Will whatever Doof's doing be able to be resolved in less than five minutes?"

A bit puzzled by this question, Perry nodded, knowing that, at this rate, the -inator was probably just a useless piece of plastic. He could get out of there without Doofenshmirtz even seeing; that was how clueless the scientist was a majority of the time.

"Okay, good." Monogram ran his hands up and down his face. "Because I need you back in your lair as soon as possible." When he saw Perry's expression, one of panic, he sighed. "I'll explain later. Just...get out of there. Monogram, out." Sure enough, his face disappeared from the screen, leaving only black and white statics one would get on their television screen because of no reception, and their irritating sound.

Perry blinked, feeling dazed by what the major had asked him of. But he knew that he would have to do it eventually, so he, as calmly and quietly as he could, removed one half of the teacup trap and placed it carefully onto the floor. He then stepped out of the other half while holding onto it, also placing that half on the floor. Looking one last time for the day (hopefully) at his nemesis, he grabbed his hang glider and flew out of the still-broken window as Doofenshmirtz _still _rambled about nothing.

* * *

_**Perry's Lair, 7:43 AM**_

Perry walked into his lair to get quite the eyeful. Of course, up on the large screen was Monogram's face. _That, _the platypus had expected to see. What he had _not _expected to see were his owners and their girlfriends standing near that screen, all looking more confused than the one next to them.

Monogram looked out past the four to see the agent, his eyes widened and looking extremely panicked, now. "Oh, good, Agent P, you're here," he commented, and all four of the teenagers looked out to where Perry was standing, too. However, none of them moved to that spot. Phineas wanted to, Perry could tell, but Isabella was holding him back by the arm. Perry wondered why. "As you can see...we have a bit of a full house here."

"You're probably wondering what we're doing here on a Wednesday," Phineas finally spoke up, releasing Isabella's grip on him. Now Perry was just assuming that she had done so out of fright. That had to be it. Everyone else seemed pretty calm, after all. "Well, we were excused from school, and we didn't know _why _until we were led down here by a location device." He looks around, again. "So this place _wasn't _built by you, Ferb?"

Ferb shook his head.

"That's too bad. It would have looked really good up in our backyard. You could have rebuilt it exactly the way you had down here, and then we could pretend to be spies." An excited look formed on his face. "That's it! That's our next big idea! Ferb, write it down somewhere-"

"You can talk about that stuff later, Phineas," Monogram quietly interrupted. He looked at Perry once again, who was standing awkwardly away from the rest, and then looked away again. "Right now, we need to get to the serious part of why you all are down here. Emily and Isabella..." The two girls looked startled upon hearing their names. "...Agent P and Agent K were _supposed _to come down here as well, but it appears that they have not shown up. Why is that?"

"Oh, Kiki's in my sock drawer," Emily spoke up. "She _always _is around this time of the morning."

Monogram looked at the English-born teenager strangely. "In your...sock drawer?"

"Oh, quite," Emily piped. "She loves to sleep in there, and also to chew some of my older ones up. I have to keep my newer ones in a secret place so that she doesn't ruin _those_, as well." She sighed, shaking her head. "Kiki is quite what one would call a lunatic gone off the rocker."

The major continued to just look at her for a few seconds, expression on his face undefinable. "Um..." he cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "All... right, then." He then looked over at Isabella, who gulped. "What about _your _agent, Miss Garcia-Shapiro?"

"I...don't know," Isabella squeaked. Perry raised his very faint eyebrows up; Isabella didn't usually act so weak. "I...really don't know. Don't hurt me."

Monogram groaned. "I'm _not _going to hurt you, Isabella. I'm trained in acrobatics, as is my son. _Not_ martial arts. There is quite a difference."

"Actually, not really," Ferb interjected. "There are forms of martial arts that very specially focus on acrobatics. Think about flips, splits, and butterfly kicks. All are used in acrobatics as well as very advanced forms of martial arts like you were speaking of."

Monogram rubbed his eyes after Ferb finished his mini speech of the day. "I'm getting tired of arguing with you kids about pointless things. My point was that _I'm_ not harmful. I don't harm anyone physically unless needed, though, that's extremely rare. But also, you're all here for a reason, and I'm sure you all are aware as to what that reason is."

Perry suddenly felt weak in the knees, and his legs were screaming at him to sit down, otherwise, he was going to faint from the overwhelming aspect of it all. But he didn't. He just looked up at the screen like he was supposed to, fedora drooping a little bit to one side. But he didn't care.

"So, first of all, before I get started on explaining what is to happen, all of you can take seats." Monogram gestured to the spaces behind each teenager, and they each turned around to find a chair pulled up from underneath the lair. "You too, Agent P."

After each one took their seats, Perry included somehow even though his legs were feeling more wobbly than they ever had before, even the first time Phineas and Ferb had discovered him as a secret agent, Monogram cleared his throat before looking first at Emily. "So, to start off, I'll speak to you, Miss Kinney."

"Very well." Emily didn't appear to be the least bit fazed by what was going on. Her hands were folded neatly in her lap, and her hair bow that only _she_ could pull off for someone her age was as perfect looking as it normally was.

"So, as you know, Ferb told you about the O.W.C.A. before inadvertently revealing it to his brother and other friend."

"Yes." Emily nodded. "I do know that. Kiki and Perry were there, as well."

"And Ferb was the one who told you, correct? Agents K and P only provided some extra background information?"

She nodded again, though, now, she was looking uncomfortable. Ferb was staring at her, a blank expression on his face. However, his eyes were blinking much more than they normally did.

"All right." Monogram sighed, writing some stuff down on his notepad. "Now, Phineas and Isabella. The both of you caught Agent P and Ferb speaking to one another about the memory eraser catastrophe going on?"

"Well...we didn't know exactly what they were talking about." Phineas shrugged, an obvious fake smile on his face. It was clear that he wasn't really happy being interrogated in this way, or in any way, for that matter. "We just saw Perry standing up, holding his white board and wearing a fedora, and Ferb was talking a _lot _to him. All of those things combined meant that _something _had gone crazy."

Ferb rolled his eyes when he thought nobody was looking as Monogram looked down at his notepad again, frowning slightly. He placed the end of the pen he was using on his lips. "Hmm. So, did both Ferb and Agent P explain the agency to you and Isabella, or just one or the other?"

"Just Perry, really..." Phineas hesitated, looking at his girlfriend. "...Right? I'm right, right?"

Isabella sat there for a few more seconds, and, upon realizing that she was actually being spoken to, blinked repeatedly. She seemed to have forgotten that she was actually in a room and not dreaming. "Oh. Right. Yeah..."

"Hmm." Monogram made another note as Perry attempted to sit up straighter in his seat. He had dramatically slouched over without even realizing it. "Interesting...all right. All of those things are very good to know so that I know what to do next."

"What...are you going to do?" Isabella's voice was shaky, again. "You're not going to..."

"I'm not going to take away Pinky," Monogram informed her, and she stared at him.

"Um...what? I mean, yay, but..." Her words were fumbling across one another. "_What_?"

"I'm not going to take Pinky away from you," he said in as gentle of a tone as he could while still remaining firm. "While your memories of him as an agent will most certainly have to be removed, he is still your pet. To add on to it...it wasn't _your _fault that you know of this agency." He glared at Perry, who looked away and down at his paws, twiddling his thumbs.

"...Oh." Isabella looked both surprised and relieved. "Well...um...thank you."

"It will be the same for you, Miss Kinney," Monogram told Emily, turning towards her. "You did not find out about the agency by your own means; therefore, the same situation will apply to you."

Emily nodded, smiling at the same time.

"However..." Monogram turned towards the center now, where both of the brothers were sitting. Phineas at this point was looking pale, even paler than he usually looked. Ferb's expression was still blank. "We have...a bit of a dilemma here."

"In...what way?" Phineas wondered. He swallowed, trying not to openly show his fear of the situation.

"See...here's the problem. Phineas, your situation is the same as the girls. But Ferb...it's not. You asked Agent P for more information when you found out about what he does whenever you guys are inventing or whatever it is that you do with those crazy contraptions in your backyard."

Phineas cleared his throat, looking ill at ease. "Well, um, see...we're kinda on a break from that-"

"That's not the point I was trying to make. My point is that both of you share the same pet. I can't take Agent P from just_ one_ of you. That doesn't make sense. However...if I were to punish both of you, it _also _wouldn't be fair. Do you see the problem, here?"

"Hold on a second," Ferb finally interjected. Now, a clear frown was pasted onto his face. "Why does there have to be a punishment in the first place? If you wanted to punish me, you should have done it that first day, when I came down here with Perry. Not _now _after it's been months."

"That's because at the time, I thought you were trustworthy," Monogram argued. "You know, with you being quiet and all. But _now _look. The O.W.C.A. was at _high _risk of being exposed to the public due to _three _other people knowing about it. If one of them had told, and thank the heavens that they did not, but if they had...we would have _had _to rid all of the agents of their owners. There would be no other choice. After all, the amnesia-inator _still _isn't fixed. Think of the consequences that would happen to you _then_. If I were to give you one now, which I _will, _be grateful that it's more harmless for you in this situation than it would be if the events I just mentioned happened."

Ferb opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. He clamped his lips shut, a bit of crimson showing up on his cheeks. There was no doubt he was embarrassed on being called out like that, which surprised Perry. Ferb was never embarrassed about anything.

"So... your punishment." Monogram sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Like I said, it's relatively harmless since Phineas, Isabella, and Emily actually know how to keep their mouths shut when it's _right_."

Ferb turned even more crimson, and Emily reached over from her seat and squeezed his arm. He did nothing in return.

"What will happen is this." Monogram cleared his throat, again, and Perry prayed that it wouldn't be bad as he had said. "You will-"

"_Sir!_"

Everyone jumped upon hearing this, since the room had become so quiet. "_What_, Carl?" Monogran snapped, rolling his eyes. "That was a _good_ moment right there."

"Sorry. But sir, this is serious. I'm just going to get to the point since I doubt that you even care about _how _it happened." He paused for dramatic effect, and then announced, "I think the amnesia-inator is fixed!"

Monogram's eyes widened. "...What?" he said after a moment's hesitation. "Are...you sure?"

"Very much so, sir. I tested it out on an agent's owner just a few minutes ago, and it worked perfectly."

Monogram blinked in surprise as all of the teenagers rose from their seats. "Well, then." He looked at Ferb. "Forget about your punishment, Ferb. It's all good now."

"All right, everyone." Carl turned the camera so that it faced the very large machine that operated the amnesia-inator. "Everyone stand in front of that big circle-thing that you see on the wall. Very good, very good." He hurried over to the machine, sitting down in front of it. "So...this is Agent P, Perry the Platypus' room...we're taking away four memories just of the O.W.C.A. in general, as well as the agents."

"Make sure it's _only _the agent forms you're taking away, and not the normal forms," Monogram advised him. "That wouldn't be too good."

"Very true, sir." Carl looked at the four. "Do you just want to automatically be transported in front of the school after your memories of all of this get erased?"

"It can do that?" Monogram wondered, scratching his head. He still looked a bit overwhelmed.

"It couldn't, originally. But I added that feature on. So, do you guys want that?"

They all looked at each other. It didn't take long for all of them to nod. "That would be good," Phineas told Carl, smiling at Perry at the same time. Perry was still sitting in his chair in front of the screen, though he had turned the chair around so he could see what was going on.

"All right, then." Carl typed a few more things into the machine. "Any last words?"

Emily and Isabella shrugged, but Phineas and Ferb both turned to Perry. They waved goodbye to him, and he saluted in reply. All were grinning. "Bye, Agent P!" Phineas called out.

"Okay. It's all settled...so I'll be firing in five...four...three...two...one..."

The room suddenly turned into a bright beam of light.

**Next Chapter Preview: What will happen when Savannah, Katie, Milly, **_**and **_**Ginger all get trapped somewhere? Not very good things...**

* * *

**That's the end of one storyline, folks. What did you think of it, overall?**

**And there was a Doofenshmirtz appearance in here! I've been trying to fit him in this story all along, but he just never fit...until now. What did you guys think about him?**


	40. Getting Stuck

_**Saturday, March 31, 1:27 PM**_

_**Danville Library**_

_**Savannah**_

"Please inform me," Katie begins to tell me, moving some of the boxes in this cramped space to another part. "_Why_ you have to do this. And also, why _we_ have to tag along." She gestures to herself and Milly, who is sorting towels by color and nodding in agreement.

"Because," I argue, pushing my hair back so it doesn't get in the way of my sight. It's dark enough in this supply closet as it is. "I don't want to do work by myself. And I...wasn't what you would say 'nice' to a certain librarian here. I was quite the opposite, to be exact."

Katie raises her eyebrows. "You were rude to the librarian?"

"I believe I kinda just said that. Yes, I was. One of our conversations was, and I quote, 'Miss, I told you to leave not long ago.' Because, well, she did, since I was rude about something else earlier. And then I turned around in my chair, since I was on the computer, and was like, 'Yeah, I know. I was there.'"

Milly snorts before covering her mouth. Katie continues to look at me in disbelief, her mouth open slightly.

"And then, about a few minutes after _that_, she came up to me again." I take this time to fix my ponytail and headband combo, since I know that too many stray hairs are coming out of it now. "And before she could say anything, I said to her, with a completely blank expression, 'You know, I really appreciate all that you've done for me while I was in here, really doing your job to its full potential. You really put the _ass _in _ass_istance.'"

Milly bursts out into laughter, accidentally knocking over some of her towels with her hand. Katie tries to hide the smirk that's playing at the corners of her lips. "Savannah-"

"Oh, but that's not why I have to do this. _Why_ do I have to do this?" I grimace. "Apparently...the librarian personally knows my mom, and she knew who I was the entire time."

Katie gapes at me, box in her hands kind of just hovering in the air. "_No_."

"Oh, yes." I sigh. "So Mom had to come here all the way from the other side of town from our apartment after the librarian called her, and she made me apologize even though I didn't mean it. And, as my punishment...I have to 'help out'..." I use quotes with my fingers to emphasize 'help out'. "...here in the library. For the next month."

Milly winces. "That sucks." These are the first real words she's said since they both got here.

"It does," Katie agrees. "I mean, I could understand a few _days _of this kind of stuff for a punishment..." I snort in protest, and she glares at me. "...I was _going _to say, 'but a month? That's ridiculous.' But you clearly don't think you deserve _any _kind of punishment."

"Because I don't. God. I was being _sarcastic_. And it wasn't even very _good _sarcasm."

"Sometimes adults don't understand sarcasm," Milly quietly informs me, stacking the last set of towels where they're suppposed to be and standing back so she doesn't mess them up again. "My dad doesn't." She hesitates. "Actually...he doesn't really understand humor in general."

I just stare at her, a weird expression on my face.

"I'm just...saying." She shrugs, looking away from my gaze. It bugs me sometimes, just how quiet she can be at times. I always wonder what's on her mind. It has to be a lot, considering she doesn't say a thing when she doesn't want to. "The librarian could, I don't know, be one of those people."

"Whatever," I sigh. "My point is that I think of this to be unbelievably stupid."

Katie gives me a look. "Gee, really?" the blond sarcastically asks me. "You haven't made that clear at _all_."

"See?" I say. "Even _you _use sarcasm when it's needed, and you're one of the nicest people I know." I finally finish my ponytail, no longer caring if it looks like crap, and go to open the door of this closet since _I _think we've organized it pretty well by now. I look over at my other friend. "Milly, you have the list of what we're supposed to do today, right?"

She startles at the sound of her name, blushing slightly. "Oh. Um...yeah." She scrambles to take the sheet of paper out of her pocket that the librarian had promptly handed over to her without looking at any of us. Though, from the corner of her eye, she was glaring at me. Not like I cared. "Um...we're supposed to go upstairs two floors to organize some of the books in the children's section." Her eyes brighten. Milly's always been good with kids.

I, on the other hand, am not, and groan upon hearing this. "Oh, come _on._"

"Geez, Savannah, lighten up," Katie scolds me. "There are _much _worse things you could be doing. Like..." She gives the supply closet door a dirty look after I shut it closed. "Cleaning another supply closet."

"True..." I admit, irritated by the fact that she's right. As usual. I walk over to the giant balcony that wraps around this entire floor and gives a view of the lower and upper floors. This place just underwent renovations, which explains why it looks so nice and clean for once. I'm sure it'll be back to looking old and dusty in no time. Unless, of course, I'm the one that will end up cleaning it... "So how are we getting upstairs? By... well, stairs? Or are we taking the elevator?"

"Whatever works for you," Milly informs me immediately. She hates making decisions by herself.

I nod. "Cool. We're taking the elevator, then." I turn away from the balcony and walk over to the nearby elevator. I haven't been in it yet since I've only ever been on the ground floor and the first floor, but I've heard it's huge. I've never been more excited to get inside of an elevator in my life. I press the UP button and wait.

"So...are we _all _taking this elevator?" Katie asks Milly, and the latter nods without saying anything.

The door opens at this point, and, pleased that it came so quickly, I practically run in there. Sure enough, it's pretty darn big. It has to be about ten feet in width _and _length, and there's even a frickin' _bench _ in the back. I sit down on it next to someone with curled black hair and dark sunglasses, legs crossed and reading the newspaper. She ignores me completely.

The door closes, and I notice that both Katie and Milly are looking uncertain at the buttons that direct you to which floor you want to go to. "Uh, guys?" I say loudly even though there are only four people in here. "It's two floors up. We all know how to count, right?"

"It's...more complicated than that, in this case." Milly bites her lip. "It's...all in Braille."

"What?" I exclaim, reluctantly getting up to walk over to the buttons. Sure enough, instead of printed numbers, there are raised dots on the different buttons. "_Why?_"

"Do you not know what Braille is?" someone besides the three of us says with a dry tone, and we all turn around to see the girl with sunglasses giving us looks like we're all stupid. Milly flushes in embarrassment.

"Of course we do," I say indignantly. "We just don't know how to read it, since, I don't know, we're not _blind_."

"I'm not blind, either," the girl says. She takes off her sunglasses, and I double back and mentally groan. It's Ginger. She smirks at all three of us before removing herself from her seat and walking over. "However, since I'm actually _smart_, unlike a majority of the planet, I taught myself Braille _just _in case it would happen in the future."

...I guess it _does _make sense that she's Baljeet's girlfriend. But she's still pissing me off greatly.

"How many floors up?" Ginger asks us in a tone that makes us sound like we're all in the first grade and still learning how to comprehend different words.

"...Two," Milly informs her quietly after a moment's hesitation.

"Up in the children's and young adults' section? Fantastic. That's where _I _was headed as well." Ginger suddenly frowns as a look of realization passes over her face. "Wait... if you guys wanted to be on the same floor as me, then the elevator would have just kept on going up since it's what I requested earlier. It wouldn't...still be _here_."

"Oh...crap..." Katie mutters. Her hand flies up to her mouth, and she starts biting on her fingers like they're food. Her eyes go wide.

"What?" I say. I'm starting to get a not-very-good feeling about this.

"...We're stuck," she squeaks. She points a shaking finger up near the ceiling, and we all look to see an electric banner say, almost cheerfully, _We are afraid that we are experiencing some minor technical difficulties. Please stand by until emergency personnel come to fix the problem. We are sorry for the inconvenience._

_"What?" _Ginger and I scream at the same time. We look at each other, and Ginger's the first one to look away.

"Oh my God," we vaguely hear Katie say, as well as a thump to the ground. We turn around at the same time to see her with her knees up to her chest and rocking back and forth. Ginger rolls her eyes at the sight of this, but mine widen. I get down on the floor next to her.

"Katie," I say quietly. "What's wrong?"

She squeaks again.

"Looks like _somebody's_ turned into a mouse with a human body," Ginger says snarkily. Milly stares at her in shock as Katie's lip wobbles. "Or is it _even _human?" She crouches down a little and looks at Katie as if she's actually examining her. "Gosh, it's really hard to tell...what a shame. You would _think _I would be able to find the difference between a mouse and a human. But this time...I just _can't_."

"Shut the hell up," I snap. I turn my attention back to Katie, who now has little streaks of tears running down her face. "Seriously, Katie...what's wrong?"

"She's afraid of the elevator, dumbass," Ginger snaps at me menacingly, and I whip my head around to glare at her.

"Says the person who called her a mouse for being _afraid _and making noises to _signify _that less than a minute ago!" I shout, my voice shaking with anger. "Who are _you _to call _me _the dumbass, dumbass?"

"Okay, okay," Milly says in as loud of a tone as she can with that super soft voice of hers. Ginger and I both stop screaming at each other to look at her.

"_Yes?" _Ginger practically spits at her, and the brunette shrinks back. I can hear her gulp from over here.

"I just...think that you guys don't need to fight." She's having a very hard time keeping her eyes locked on Ginger's; I can tell from her incessant shaking. "I mean...Katie's already scared enough."

"You're absolutely right, Milly. _I _understand," I tell my friend. I turn to Ginger and frown at her. "Unlike _this _person that doesn't understand that _some people have phobias_!"

"Savannah," Katie manages to sniffle as Ginger's mouth falls open. She blinks several times. "Really, that's enough. I'm...not actually afraid of elevators, just the being trapped part-"

"No," I interrupt. "It's _not_." I glare at my former best friend. "What is your frickin' _problem_, making fun of her like that the way you used to make fun of _me_ until I made it clear that I was no longer going to tolerate it?"

Ginger snorts, rolling her chocolate brown eyes and crossing her arms. "I don't know...maybe...I actually have a _life _compared to you people."

"_You _have a life?" I fake a laugh. "Constantly making fun of people and spreading their gossip is having a _life_? Gee, what _fun_."

"It is, actually." Her stare gets colder, eyes narrowed at my sarcasm. "You actually feel worthy of yourself, and you feel like you have a personality. You feel like you have a place on the planet." She exhales.

Milly, from across the elevator, mutters something to herself, but I can't quite catch what it is. Something about a...cigarette? I sniff the air. Weird. It doesn't smell like it in here.

Katie, meanwhile, is still shaking with fear, but she's now staring at Ginger. "What do you...mean?"

Ginger gives her a strange look. "What do you mean, what do I mean?"

"Do you not feel worthy of yourself?" Katie quietly asks her while still sniffling into a random tissue. "Is that why you make fun of others, to make yourself feel better about who you are?"

She says nothing in reply, just staring down at the floor.

"Well," I say as I move away from Katie, since she appears to at least be somewhat okay now, and move back onto the bench. "It appears that Ginger is now speechless. This is a once in a lifetime event, folks, so let's live it while we can."

"I'm not _speechless_, you idiot." Ginger glares at me. "I'm totally capable of speaking, thank you very much."

"Damn."

"...I was just thinking about what Katie said." She randomly grabs one of her curls made with a really poor curling iron, just kind of looking down at it and stroking it down with both hands. I hate girls that do stuff like that. It's like they've never seen their hair before. "And...I was thinking about how true all of it is. I do it for myself."

"And?"

Ginger looks at me. "And _what_?"

"And...why? Why can't you find a better way to deal with whatever you're going through? I know for a fact that you have a pretty good home life compared to me, as I've been to your house ten thousand times, minimum. I don't know what your big issue is, here."

"Home life's _fine_, Schumacher. What's _not _fine is the fact that everyone hates me."

"For a good reason," Milly mutters, and Ginger spins around.

"_What _did you just say?"

"Nothing," Milly tells her quickly, looking down at her lap. She has her cell phone on, which is strange. I thought cell phones couldn't work in elevators.

I put the focus back on Ginger. "I don't get what you're trying to say," I tell her as she lets go of the one curl that's almost completely straightened out, now, and picks up another one. "So you gossip and make fun of people because everyone hates you? That doesn't make _any _sense."

"When you put it in _that _way, no, no it doesn't." She rolls her eyes. "Everyone hates me because I do it. And...I like that. I like that even though there's nothing really good about me, people still know I exist."

"That _really _doesn't make sense."

"Who says it has to make _sense_?" she snaps, releasing her curl from her hands even though it's all messed up. "Maybe it just works that way. Ever think about that?"

I pretend to think about it. "No. Not really."

"Well. See, it doesn't have to. When you're like me, you-"

She is then interrupted by an alarm going off. Startled, Katie gets up off of the floor and looks around, rubbing her eyes. She must have fallen asleep. Milly helps her off of the floor just as the elevator doors open and a fireman pokes his head in. At least, I _think _it's a fireman. He looks to be in about his early twenties. "You girls okay?" he asks us, sounding genuinely concerned.

"_I'm _fine," Ginger informs him. She picks up her sunglasses from the bench and puts them back onto her face. She gestures to Katie while doing so. "The one over there, the mouse, is afraid of elevators, though, so...I highly doubt that _she _is."

Katie flushes a bright pink color, and Milly and I both glare at her.

"What?" she says, sounding innocent. "I'm being a _good _friend here, being all concerned for her and the like." She tosses her hair. "You should be doing the same."

I grit my teeth, wanting so badly to put her into a blender and mix her all up until all she is is...something that looks slimy and gross. Like the way she is on the inside, right now.

The fireman clears his throat, looking uncomfortable. "Um...so, ladies, I'm going to have to ask you to take the stairs from now on, at least until the elevator is fixed. We don't want to risk anyone else getting stuck like that, even if it _is _just for twenty minutes, as was the case for you girls."

We were only in there for twenty minutes? Geez. That was the longest twenty minutes of my _life_.

The fireman steps aside, now, and all of us walk out of the elevator and back onto the first floor, where we were originally. I'm bracing myself for ten thousand people to run up to us and ask if we're okay, but nobody does, thank God. All that's there are a few other firemen standing there with some tools. As my friends and ex-friend walk out of there with no comments, I'm about to join them, but something holds me back. Hesitantly, I look back, and right as the fireman is about to walk into the elevator, I hear someone call out, "Wait."

The fireman turns around and looks at me, and I realize that I was the one that said that. "Um..." I hesitate. "Thanks. For...you know. Getting us out of there."

"No problem." He shrugs. "It's what we do." All of a sudden, he smiles. "By the way...the librarian asked us something when we came in, and told me to tell _you _something."

"...What?"

"She told me..." It's pretty clear that he's struggling not to laugh and remain serious. "That you still have to get back to work."

**Next Chapter Preview: Vienna sees "Buford's" post on the school website about something, and a massive fight ensues. She then meets someone else in the group, and...there will be a major cliffhanger at the end that will have all of you hating me. XD**

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**I know, I know...this was pretty much a filler chapter. You don't have to tell me. But there was a little bit of character development, so...it's not totally useless. At least, I don't think so. Tell me if you think otherwise.**


	41. Buford Wrongly Accused

**I'm not mad or anything...but what's up with the lack of feedback, lately? A lot of you used to give it, and now...you don't. Again, I'm not mad. I'm just curious as to where you all went.**

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_**Friday, April 6, 5:00 PM**_

_**Right Outside the Music Room**_

_**Buford**_

_Get out of here_

_It's the end of us tonight_

_You're insane, I so want_

_To stop being your delight_

_I wonder, about this, and I'm thinking_

_That you're not worth my time_

_You said that you loved me, all right,_

_But I'm not thinking the same, about you_

"It don't rhyme," I inform my girlfriend, and she spins around from her seat on the piano bench. She stares at me. Obviously, she's surprised to see me standing here at the doorway, arms crossed while listening to whatever she's writing.

V bites her lip, looking away from me and turning back to her sheet music, which is propped up on the thingy that holds it. I don't know what it's called, and I really don't care. "I _know_ that," she says, her voice stiff for some reason. She makes a mark on her sheet before groaning and erasing it. "I'm still waiting for my dad to pick me up, so I'm in here for the time being. But I can't _think _clearly."

I then remember why she's even here at the school, and why _I'm _here. "Wait. You were tryin' out for the musical or whatever, right?" I walk up behind her, but don't sit down next to her. She doesn't seem to be in the best mood. "Did ya get in? God, _please _tell me ya got in."

"Of course I got in," she snorts, talking to me like I'm an even bigger idiot than I actually am. "I tried out last week, actually, and landed the lead. _Just _like I was supposed to."

I grin, relieved by the fact that I won't have to hear her complaining for the next year about not getting what she thought she deserved. She can be a _real _pain when she wants to be, and everyone knows it. "Really? That's great! Why are ya mad?"

"I'm not mad about that." She exhales, still avoiding my gaze and keeping her focus straight on the sheet music. "Everyone knows that playing Maria in _West Side Story _is quite the privilege. Plus, the directors on Broadway will love that I already have experience playing someone as prestigious as her. They'll love me even more than they would have already." She tries to hide it, but a smile is on her face, now.

"There ya go," I say. "_That's _the V I know and love."

Immediately, she wipes it off, shaking her head. "Um...yeah. Right." V bites her lip and changes the subject. Sort of. "In case you're wondering, rehearsal just concluded for today. It's not like I _need _to go, since I've known all of my lines for the character since I was five. But the director's always like, '_Oh, but we still need you_.' Not that I'm complaining, since it means they'll just hear more of my talent, but...still." She sighs, and, still without looking at me, wonders out loud, "What are _you _doing here, anyway?"

I rub the back of my head. "Oh...nothin' much. 'Jeet needed ta see me about somethin'."

"What?"

"Just...school and crap. He thinks I'm not smart enough ta graduate, He, and I quote, said, '_Buford, having straight C's and D's will not be enough for you to go to college.' _He don't get that I don't even know what I would _do _there. There's nothin' I really like, other than bein' a bully. But ya can't really go to college for that."

"I see."

I look at her harder, not that she can see it since her back's turned to me. "Are ya even listenin' ta me?"

"Who said I wasn't?" Now her tone sounds rough. Gosh. Rehearsal _really _must not have been good for her.

"It's just...I dunno. Yer not actin' like ya normally do."

"And how do I _normally _act?"

I turn my palms up. "Well...God, I don't know. Yer more conceited about yerself, more bossy to me, more...talkative. Ya don't talk like ya just got a part in the ensemble instead of a lead role. That kind of stuff."

Now, she finally turns around, shooting me a glare with her intimidating round, dark green eyes. "Are you implying that I should get a role in the _ensemble _instead of the lead? Are you really undermining my talent like that?"

Uh...what? "Did I say that?"

"In a way, yes. Yes, you did."

"Vienna Thompson." The sound of me using her full name catches her attention, because she drops the glare and looks at me with surprise, instead. I very rarely call her by her actual name, Vienna. I usually just say V. It's easier.

Since I now have her attention, I cross my arms and sit down next to her at the bench. "What's goin' _on _with you?"

"You should know." Her voice sounds both cold and hot at the same time, which really doesn't make sense when worded out into an actual sentence. "You should have _known _that I would find out about it eventually."

"What the hell are ya _talkin' _about?"

"Your article." V says this to me slowly, as if I just immigrated from some foreign country and don't speak a word of English. "That you published online to the school website this morning that _Isabella_ told me about?"

I blink, furrowing my brow. "Uh...what?"

"I can't believe this," she groans, slapping her forehead melodramatically. "Do you have a phone that gets Internet access?"

"I have a goldfish." I reach into my pocket to pull out my fish and best friend, Biff, that's gone with me everywhere since I was six years old. "Do ya think _he _gets Internet access?"

She rolls her eyes as I tuck him back away safely in my pocket, obviously not appreciating my sarcasm. "Very funny. Seriously, do you?"

"No. My phone's at home."

"We'll have to go to the computer lab, then." She swings one leg across the bench, and then the other one. Since she's so short, it takes her a few more seconds to do this than it would for an average sized person. "Let's go, and I'll show you so you can _remember_."

Still feeling confused, I follow her out of the room and into the hallway. Since the auditorium is right next to the music room, there are still people right outside that haven't yet been picked up. I spot Emily and Isabella standing there, both looking down at Emily's cell phone and giggling at whatever's on the screen. It's probably a text from Ferb or something, but I don't know how he can be funny enough to provoke a reaction like that out of them. "Ya didn't tell me _they _were in it, too," I whisper to V as we pass them. They don't even look up.

She glances at them before looking away. "Oh, right," is all she says coldly in reply, clearly starting to walk faster to avoid her castmates, some of them looking at her oddly in return. I, on the other hand, still walk at my normal pace. She and I have about a foot between us in height, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that. So it's pretty funny to see us walking next to each other, me all slow and she going fast, but still not being able to keep up with me.

The English hallway isn't far, so when we reach it, we haven't even walked for a minute. Since the door's not even locked, V walks right in as if she owns the place, just like she does in every other setting. Poking my head in and scanning the place with my eyes, since I don't think I've ever been in here, I stand back as she turns the lights on.

"Well, come in," she says in a snappy tone, which makes me snap back into focus. Heh. Snappy tone, snap back into focus...yeah, that wasn't really funny. Sorry. Anyway...so as I look back at her, I notice that she's pulled out a chair while sitting down in one right next to it. Her arms are crossed, and she's glaring at me.

Figuring that I really shouldn't waste more time, I hurry across the lab to get to the computer V wants me at, and sit down in this uncomfortable seat. Who was the dude that designed these things, anyway? He must've had a _really _bad back. "All, right, V. What is it?"

"This." She jabs her finger at the screen, and I look at it to see the school website at the top.

"Uh...what does _this _have to do with you bein' pissed off at me?"

"Not the actual website, dumbass," she informs me in an admonished tone. "The article below it. Read it, though, you shouldn't have to, since _you _wrote it, as clearly stated."

"Well, jeez. No need ta call me a dumbass, first of all." I scroll down the page. "Second, I didn't write any article. I barely know how to write a frickin' essay."

"Just. Read. It." Her hands are clenched, now, so I gulp and finally start reading the article. Seeing what it says as I read makes my eyes grow wider with every word.

_Why my Girlfriend and I Aren't Good: By Buford Van Stomm_

_It's taken me a lot of courage to be able to write this and tell you all about it, and, if I know you, I may or may not have told you already. But...see, I'm not happy with my relationship with Vienna Thompson. _

_We've been going out since prom last year, and it was fine until about Christmas. That was when she really started to make me mad. She would always complain about the littlest things about me, like why I wouldn't listen to her latest cover of whatever on that video site, or why I wasn't polite to people when I needed to be. She was mad at me, which made me mad at her._

I bite my lip, knowing that all of it is true.

_And it hasn't gotten better, either._

Now _that _isn't. We've been great since we apologized to each other. Until now, that is.

_So, I just wanted to tell you all that before it got around by itself. I'm sorry if you read this, V, but...yeah. I have to break up with you. Sorry._

"Utter. Crap." I say as soon as I finish reading. I rub my forehead, feeling a severe headache coming on. "Vienna, please. That don't sound like me at _all_."

"Yeah, actually, it does," she shoots back at me. I notice that little tears are on the corners of her eyes, and she's trying not to let them fall. "How _could _you? If you wanted to break up with me so effing badly, why didn't you tell _me _instead of the whole school?"

"V, come on," I groan. "First of all, I did _not _write that, and second of all, we're not on a freakin' soap opera. Quit actin' like we are."

"Well." She sniffles, appearing to ignore me. "I guess this is goodbye, then." With that, she stands up and slams her chair into the desk. Hard. The table rattles.

"Vienna. Come the eff _on_. This is probably something Ginger did to cause drama. She does it all the time!" I yell as I stand up out of my seat, and she turns around. Mascara stains are on the rims of her eyelids. I hope she doesn't look into a mirror anytime soon.

"Really?" she screams back, voice sounding hoarse, now. She attempts to clear her throat, but fails when she just gives a shuddery breath. "You really think she would be _this _cruel?"

"Uh..._yeah_." I give her a look. "Have ya not known her since she started doin' it in middle school? I didn't do it, V. Come _on. _Yer smarter than this."

She says nothing, just continuing to walk away and out of the room. Before I can protest to her again, she's already slammed something else. The door. And this time, the entire room shakes. At least...to me, it feels that way.

* * *

_**Vienna, 5:16 PM**_

I cannot believe this. I _cannot _believe Buford denied that he did it, when it was clear that he did. I could see it from the looks on his face. And to think I thought that our relationship was going pretty smoothly, when, obviously, I was pretty damn wrong.

Knowing that I can't let any of my castmates see me like this, with my stage makeup all over the place and crying when I _should_ be the confident-looking one, I decide to make my way over to the bathroom. However, I see someone right outside of it who makes me stop in my tracks and stare at in dismay.

It's Django Brown. My _other _ex-boyfriend who made no sense with me, whatsoever, and made a lot more sense with Adyson when they were still together. I still scold Adyson to this day for breaking up with him. She refuses to listen to me.

I wonder what Django's doing here, anyway? But whatever, that doesn't matter. I just need to get past him and into the freaking bathroom. Is that so much to ask? ...Don't answer that. From my incessant dragging on of this scene, I'm going to say that you're saying yes. I don't blame you for thinking that way.

Unfortunately...he sees me, right as I'm walking in. His eyebrows shoot up upon seeing me. "V," he calls out quietly to me, and I have no choice but to just stand there and feel like a fool as he stares at me, concern written on his face. But right as he starts to say something else to me, I cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, I look horrible. You don't need to tell me." The rest of the words I say come out in a rush, and I don't know why I'm even saying them to anyone, let alone my ex whom I haven't talked to in about a year. "But, see, Isabella pulled me aside during rehearsal, and she said that there was this article on the school website that she was trying to delete but couldn't, for some reason, and she said it was written by Buford, and it was about him wanting to break up with me." I gulp back tears. "And-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he interrupts, holding up his hands. "So...you confronted him, and he admitted it?"

"No," I wail, burying my face in my hands. "H-He _denied _it!"

He gives me a weird look as I continue to cry. "Um...isn't that a _good _thing?"

I sniff. "You're such a _guy_." My voice strains on 'guy'. "You don't under_stand_. He made the article so he wouldn't have to say to my _face _that he wanted to break up with me. He wanted to embarrass me in front of the school by making me look stupid when he denied writing it, and it's probably working. It'll be all over the place on Monday."

Django looks uncertain, biting his bottom lip. "I...still don't get it."

"Whatever," I groan, wiping one of my eyes. "I don't know why I'm even telling you this, anyway. We're not even together, anymore..." My voice trails off, and I can feel the awkwardness in the air start to rise. "Um...I'm sorry-"

"No,_ I'm_ sorry," he interjects, shaking his head and giving a nervous chuckle. "I...um...I'm sorry," he finishes lamely.

I can't help but laugh a little through my pain. He's funny without even meaning to be. I had forgotten about that. It was one of the reasons why I used to like him in the first place. Same with Adyson... "So, anyway..." I say, smiling at his smile. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm part of the backstage crew, working on the scenery," he informs me, nodding his head and looking straight ahead at the wall on the other side of the hallway. "I mean, I have nothing better to do nowadays, so I figured it would be fun."

"That's...cool." I finally realize after feeling around in my pockets that I have tissues, so I take one out and blow my nose.

He watches me as I do this. "So...are you and Buford broken up? Not to get into your business, but..."

"Yeah." I grimace at the sight of what I've blown into the tissue, folding it over so I don't have to see it again. "Um...so, speaking of break ups...have you and Adyson spoken?"

He sighs. "Nope."

"I'm sorry."

"But...I guess it doesn't really matter." He's still looking at me as I blow my nose once again. Very loudly. "Because...well...um, I've kind of gotten over her."

"Oh, have you?" I pull out another one from my pocket.

"...Yeah. Because..." He shifts in his seat. "I kind of like someone else, now."

I don't know why, but this surprises me greatly. I guess I always thought that he and my best friend would work their problems out and someday get back together. "Oh, really? Who is it?"

He shrugs. "Um...well, I haven't really talked to her in a while, so...it would be weird for us to suddenly be a couple, not just to us, but to everyone else."

"...I never asked you about how you would be together," I say after a moment's hesitation. "...I asked you who she was."

Django sits there, clearly perplexed by what I've just told him. He tends to get confused easily, and this proves that. "You...did?"

"Yeah." I nod. "I'm positive."

"Oh. Well, um..." He laughs a laugh that's clearly fake as I throw the tissue away by aiming it towards the giant trash can that's ten feet away. It ends up going in. "But...yeah. We're not really friends, either, and she's been avoiding me for a while, for...certain reasons. So I can't tell her I like her, even though I've kinda been admiring her from afar for...months now, since me and Ad broke up."

"Who says you can't tell her?" I shrug, deciding at this time to start teasing him a little. "Be like your cousin. She can just walk, er..._wheel _up to some random guy and kiss him. It doesn't even have to be someone she likes, though, if it's someone she likes, she'll be _especially_ good. It's always been that way with her."

I don't know why, but Django is suddenly snickering. "Oh, sure," I hear him mutter. His shoulders are shaking as he holds his hand over his mouth. "It's just _that _easy for her, now."

Deciding not to question, figuring it'll just get me in trouble later, I push further. "Seriously...for Lilly, it's the best way to tell someone that she likes them. Just do what she does and kiss the person you like, and then if the girl likes you back, it'll be obvious, because she'll kiss you back. If she doesn't...then that's your loss. It sucks...but what are you gonna do?"

He watches me suspiciously. "How do you know all this? Last I checked...you and Lilly weren't exactly friends."

"Inside sources. Plus, many shows on Broadway deal with heartbreak and lust for someone." I shrug. "I learn a lot from those."

He laughs, but then quiets it down when he realizes that there are other people on the other side of this wall. That reminds me, I need to call my dad and ask him what's taking him so long. Mom could be holding him back on purpose, actually. She wasn't so thrilled by my getting the lead, just like always. "But...see..." He hesitates. "...I know for a fact that this girl doesn't like me back. She'll just get even more mad at me than she already is, plus, she'll be flabbergasted by my suddenly wanting to be her boyfriend when we haven't talked in forever."

"Then that's a chance you're going to have to take," I inform him, shrugging again. "Maybe she _does _like you...but she doesn't know it."

"...You really think so?"

"I know so. You're a good guy, Django."

"It's just...she won't like it." Now Django looks away. "Because she...literally just got out of a breakup-"

"For God's sake, Django," I snap, startling him, as he jumps a little in his seat. "You're sounding like a teenaged girl in a sappy romance movie, whining to me about this kind of stuff. Just take my advice and do it the next time you see her. As...long as it's in an appropriate setting."

"The next time I see her..." He bites his lip, taking a deep breath through his nose. "See...that's kind of already happened."

I furrow my brows. "What are you _talking _ab-"

I don't get a chance to finish, because, right at that moment, he turns his head around, leans over, and kisses me.

**Next Chapter Preview: Django talks to Lilly about what just happened. **

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**How's _that _for a cliffhanger? And y****eah...this is the chapter I was talking about maybe a dozen ago where I said Bufenna would have a major conflict...now, you can see what that is. Don't worry, you'll get more details about Django's abrupt feelings in the next chapter. I get that they're abrupt, but, again, it'll be explained.**

**And whoever was the one that said they would jump off a cliff if Bufenna broke up...please, **_**please **_**don't.**


	42. Django Realizes the Truth

_**Still Friday, April 6, 5:37 PM**_

_**Right Outside the Brown Residence**_

_**Django**_

"Lilly, I have a _major _problem," I whisper frantically into my cell phone to my cousin. I'm currently pacing back and forth on the sidewalk in front of my house. One of our neighbors who's gardening is staring at me, but I don't really care. "As in..._major_."

"Okay, first of all," she begins to reply, and I can hear some rattling going on. She must be in the kitchen while our grandmother is making dinner. She always is around this time of the night. "Why are you calling _me_? Are you really _that_ friendless that you have to call your _cousin _about a problem that you have, rather than a best friend?"

"Oh, shush," I snap, feeling the heat rise up to my cheeks. "You of all people should know the whole issue with Adyson kind of made things awkward with everyone else. Besides...why do you care if I'm calling you?"

"Oh, I don't know. I may or may not have an important call awaiting."

I roll my eyes, knowing that the 'important call' is more than likely fake. Also, to get out of a phone conversation she doesn't want to have, she will often do that stupid trick where you rub tinfoil or something by the receiver and act like you're breaking up. Even before she moved to Danville, she did it, and it pisses me off more and more each time. I have to make sure she doesn't weasel herself out of this conversation, because I'd much rather have it with her than with my parents or sister, who's home for spring break right now but is staying at her friend's place. "Lilly, I'm serious. This is _bad_."

She groans. "Well, can it wait for like, five minutes? I'm in the process of dying my hair. And doing that in a wheelchair is not, I repeat, _not _easy."

"You're dying your hair? More than the streaks you already put in?"

"Did I _not _just say that I was doing it? Yes. Yes I am. It's gonna be red, like it was last year."

I blink, holding the phone out in front of me and staring at it for a second before putting it back by my ear. "But I thought you didn't like your hair that color."

"Actually, I did," she snips at me. I hear her moan again. "God. _Why _is red hair dye so frickin' messy?"

I figure she's just talking to herself, so I stay quiet.

"There...okay. First part wrapped up, ten thousand more to go." I hear her place something down on the counter and sigh loudly. I assume she has me on speaker with all that's going on. "Well, this _might _take longer than I anticipated, so...just shoot me whatever _terrible _news you have."

Her tone is dripping with sarcasm, but I pretend not to notice it. I sit down on the front lawn, starting to realize how ridiculous I look while pacing. I'm out here so that no one in the house can hear my conversation. "All right, so...you know how I'm being part of the backstage crew for the musical? I'm painting scenery and designing part of the set."

"I do now. Becoming a drama junkie, huh? Good luck hanging around V all the time." She clicks her tongue. "I feel for you."

"Well, um... obviously..." I swallow, not wanting to say her name out of sheer embarrassment. "...Vienna got the lead role."

"Gee, what a surprise. But what does _she_ have to do with anything?" I hear her mutter a word under her breath that I can't say here.

"Everything." I hug my knees to my chest. "See...since Ad and I broke up...I've kinda...um..." I clear my throat and start to open my mouth, but nothing comes out. I try again, and the same results happen.

"Geez, Django." Lilly sounds annoyed, though I can't tell if it's with me or if it's with her hair dye. Probably both. "What's up with you? You're sounding _really _weird. And by that, I can't hear you."

I roll my eyes again, also clearing my throat again. "See...um...IkindakissedVienna," I blurt out in less than a second. I take a very deep breath and wait for my cousin's response.

The other line becomes so quiet that all I can hear is nothing. The streaking of Lilly using that plastic thing that comes with the dye to put it in her hair also stops. It's like this for approximately a minute before she finally says anything. "You..._what_?" she stammers. "But isn't...aren't she and-"

"She and Buford broke up. Did you see that article on the school website about Buford wanting to break up with her?"

There's a slight pause. "Um...yeah. But even _I _didn't think it was actually him. But I don't know who did it. Unless...it was Ginger. _Then _I wouldn't be surprised."

"I'm pretty sure it was," I agree. "But...yeah, she...kinda told me about the breakup, because she actually thought it was him, and he couldn't convince her that it wasn't. And, because I'm a dumbass and wasn't thinking clearly, I...kissed her without really even thinking about it."

She takes an intake of breath. "Well...um..." I haven't heard Lilly sound this indecisive since...I don't even _know_ when. "Uh...how did _she _react, first of all?"

I swallow. This is the part that I don't think I'm ever going to recover from. "She...said nothing. She just got up and walked into the bathroom. And I...think she started crying. I heard her. But before I could say anything, Isabella found me and told me that my dad was there...and, well, here I am now."

Lilly stays silent for a little while, and I hear her pick up the plastic device again and start to rake it through her hair. "Um...wow. That is _really _bad."

"You think?" I run my hand through my own hair, groaning loudly. "What should I _do_? I've never been more embarrassed in my life."

"Hmm." I hear tinfoil, which I think I can safely assume is to wrap pieces of her hair up. It had better not be to end the conversation. "I...can't say I haven't been in a situation like this before."

"So what did you _do_?"

"Nothing. I just ignored the guy and moved on with my life like a normal person. It's happened...about five times."

I rub my eyes, sighing at the same time. "Lilly...that is anything _but _helpful."

"Well, gee, I'm sorry that we have different ways of expressing our like for someone," she snaps. "I'm sorry that I can just go up to any guy and kiss them if I want to and get over it if it doesn't work out."

"Except for _one _guy," I mutter.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," I say quickly, knowing that the last thing I need is for someone else to hate me, too, especially that someone else being my cousin.

She exhales. "Whatever. But really, Django...I can't do anything about your love life. V and I aren't really friends, so I can't talk to her. Did you talk to Isabella, at the very least, about removing the article and maybe convincing V that Buford didn't do it?"

"V tried to get her to remove it. But, for some reason, Isabella says she can't."

Lilly moans, and I picture her rolling her brown eyes. "That's downright crap. Who says Isabella can't remove an article? She's in charge of the frickin' newspaper."

"Not the website," I say quietly.

"Or, what about Baljeet, for crying out loud? He would be _great _for this kind of thing. He can get the article removed, and he can convincingly talk to Ginger. He's the only one that likes her, after all."

I can't help but snort even though it's a mean thing to do. "Very true."

"Glad you think so, as well." I notice that she sounds pleased with herself. "_Yes_. Got another part in."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks. But, before we get off...I have to ask you one question."

I can't help but be curious. "What?"

"Why do you even _like _her? Do you, really? Or was she just like a substitute for Adyson?"

I hesitate. "A...substitute for Adyson?"

"Yeah. Did you miss Adyson that much that you were just like, 'Oh, I'm going to like her best friend, instead, to get back at her for breaking up with me.'"

"Why are girls so _dramatic_ about relationships?" I groan. "That's not at _all _why I like her."

"Oh, really?" She sounds skeptical.

"Yes," I insist. "See, I like her because...um, she's...um..." I trail off. "She's kinda nice, and, um...she's dramatic, and, um..."

"Oh my God. _Listen _to yourself. You're _describing _her, not telling me why you like her. Now...tell me why you like Adyson."

"I _don't _like-"

"Uh uh. And before we start arguing about it, we're not going to that whole-" She starts to imitate me, and, much to my irritation, it's actually pretty good. "I'm a guy, and I like two girls. I can't decide between the two, but because one got pregnant and I'm not the father, I broke up with her, so I pretend not to like her even though I actually do. So I go to her best friend and pretend to like her, then kiss her ten minutes after she broke up with someone else."

"Knock it off-" I begin, but she interrupts me.

"I'm just being a pathetic person that's worse than the girl in those vampire movies when it comes to romance, when the person he's supposed to be with is obvious. The vampire movies sucked, but this shouldn't." I notice how she's slowly going back to her normal voice. "Sometimes...you just have to work out your differences and go for it."

"But Adyson hates me."

"Does she? Or does she hate the ignorance you gave her? Just think, Django...if you had just been supportive for her, none of this likely would have happened." I hear her grab something off of the counter.

"...That's true," I say after a moment's hesitation. I rub my eyes again. "Gosh...I really screwed this year up, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you really did. But, hey. That doesn't mean you can't change it. Just talk to her the next time you see her."

I suddenly feel a headache coming onto me. _The next time you see her... _"I don't think that's such a good idea," I inform her, holding my head.

"Why?"

"It doesn't matter." I move one foot back and forth in front of me, trying to ignore the fact that my voice is shaking. I shouldn't cry over things like this. It makes me look like an even bigger wimp than I am. "I should go."

"Wait." She hesitates. "Um...I would have to ask Grandma, but...maybe you guys could come over for dinner for something. Maybe that'll make you feel better. And...you haven't come over for a while. The whole family, I mean."

I perk up, at least, the best that I can. My grandma is the best cook in the world, and I suddenly notice that my stomach's growling. "Really? You mean it?"

"Again, I would have to ask," she says hurriedly, grabbing some more tinfoil. "And you'd have to be sure that your mom hasn't already started dinner or anything. But...yeah. I think it would be nice."

"It would," I agree. "So...I guess I might see you later."

"Cool. Bye."

"Bye."

Right before I hang up, I hear something tumble to the floor, followed by her cursing loudly. I can't help but chuckle as I press the _End Call _button.

* * *

_**The Stephens/ Carlson Residence, 6:23 PM**_

"So, red hair again, huh?" my dad asks Lilly as he chews a bite of lasagna.

Lilly nods. "Yep."

"I just don't understand," our grandmother begins as she walks around the table and fills everyone's bowls with cooked vegetables. "Why you would want to dye your hair such an unnatural color. Back in my day, nobody dyed their hair."

"Well, Mom, it wasn't as easy to do that, back then," my uncle points out.

"I suppose so." She shrugs. "But Lillian can pull it off, so I guess it's not so bad." She then looks at my cousin suspiciously. "But why did you want to do this, all of a sudden? You never said a word about it."

Lilly freezes. Literally, her fork is dangling in the air. "Um..." She chuckles nervously, placing the fork on her plate. "Oh, I don't know. I just decided that I missed it and, uh, wanted it back."

Grant, who's sitting next to me, leans over to me and beckons me to come closer. When I do, he whispers, hand over the side of his face facing everyone, "Or it's because she wants Darren to like her and has no better way of doing it. She said that he thought she would look good with red hair."

I can't help but snicker, and snicker loudly. Grant really is a smart kid for only being nine. Everyone at the table looks over at us as I struggle not to laugh out loud. "Django? Is everything alright?" my mom wonders. Lilly, who is beside Grant, looks at me oddly.

"Oh...yeah. It's fine." I grin at Grant, and he looks pleased. He and Lilly have the same expression for that kind of emotion, a little smile as well as moving their eyes away from your gaze.

"Okay, then." My mom shrugs and turns the attention onto my grandma, smiling at the same time. Right when she's asking her about the lasagna recipe since it's just _so _amazing, Lilly looks at me harder.

"You know, I'm not an idiot," she whispers, constantly sneaking glances at everyone else at the table. No one seems to paying attention to us, so she continues. "I know you guys were talking about me."

"_I _was," Grant informs her. When she glares at him, his eyes widen. "I-I mean...well...yeah. I was. About you and Darren."

"Is this true?" she demands to me.

"Um..."

"It is, isn't it?" She sighs loudly, leaning back more in her wheelchair. "You know, Django, it's not really fair of you to make fun of me that way, considering _your _love life isn't great, either."

Grant looks at me curiously, and I glare at Lilly. "Not in front of him," I hiss, leaning across my cousin in order for my other one to hear me. "Last thing we need is a whole argument about this when we kinda already did that on the phone." I quickly sit back in my chair after saying this so that I don't get admonished by someone.

Lilly, unfortunately, looks annoyed at me. That's never a good sign. Her mouth is slightly agape, as well. "Well, then," she sniffs. "We're going to have to argue about this more at another time."

"Argue about what?" Grant wonders. He looks insanely confused.

"Nothing important, Grant," I assure him, shaking my head and looking at Lilly. "Nothing important."

* * *

_**Half an hour later**_

"It _is _important," Lilly is arguing with me from the other side of the bathroom door. I'm on the outside while she's on the inside doing something about the dye in her hair. Apparently, it doesn't take that long for dye to set. "Vienna's currently getting over a breakup, and what do you do? Kiss her. I mean, are you really _that _insensitive?"

I'm crossing my arms and staring at the door in an irritated fashion. "I wasn't _thinking, _Lilly. But see-"

"Oh, we all know that." She says this in a tone that suggests that I should just keep quiet as she insults me, so I do. "But like I was saying earlier on the phone, sometimes you have to work out your differences with the one you like and just go for it. But, because you're being a wimp, you're all like, 'Oh, I'm just gonna suddenly like her best friend to try and hurt her feelings instead of trying to make things right.'"

"Haven't we already _had _this conversation?"

She gives me a huffy breath, so I shut up. Tinfoil rattles inside the door. "You're missing the point I'm trying to make, here. I'm repeating it so that it finally seeps into your brain that what you're doing is _wrong, _Django. I've been through so many wrong relationships that I've built the reputation of being worse than Taylor Swift at this stuff, but, unlike her, I _know _how it all works."

"Oh, do you?"

"Yes, yes I do. But for this situation in particular..." More tinfoil, and then some hesitation occurs afterwards. "...Look, I'm not trying to say that I know what she's going through. I mean, a random guy got her pregnant. That's not cool. But it's _especially _not cool when her boyfriend avoids her because of it, and then, after the breakup, goes behind her back to try and date her best friend. I mean, what the hell?"

I bite my lip, the realization finally coming through. Sort of. I'm still confused. "Lilly-"

"Plus, her mom kicked her out of her frickin' house, and they still haven't talked to each other." I hear her swallow. "Don't you know how _hard _all of that has to be? I mean...do you know what I would do to be able to talk to my parents again, if they were still alive? Imagine her _pain, _not being able to talk to her own family even though they're still on the same _planet _as her." Her voice cracks.

"Lilly..." I mutter quietly, swallowing hard and trying to get rid of that lump in my throat. "Don't do this."

"I have to." She pauses as more tinfoil drops to the ground, and then she sniffles. "Django...you being such an ass to her _really _doesn't help in the long run, with everything else going on with her right now. I mean...you say you screwed up, right?"

"Yeah." I blink back tears, knowing what's about to come out of her mouth.

"Well...you didn't just screw up. You _really _screwed up. Big time. Do you realize that?"

"I do now..."

"Good." She says this with such force that I can't help but jump. "Because you _should_. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm about to wrap my hair up again, and this time, in plastic wrap. I can't wash it for another 24 hours."

"And I can't be outside this door because..."

"Because you need time to really think about what I've just told you. Alone."

**Next Chapter Preview: Milly meets up with Gretchen again.**

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**So, what do you guys think? Do you think Lilly talking to Django will make him think about what he's done to both V and Adyson?**


	43. Milly Discovers Something Else

**(I take no credit for any insults used in this chapter. All were found on various websites and a few from friends. Just so you all know.)**

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_**Monday, April 16, 3:02 PM**_

_**Danville High Cafeteria**_

_**Milly**_

Today's been a rather...you could say, _odd _day for me. It's Monday, and everyone knows that Mondays suck. But for me, today especially did, even more than usual. This year has been so full of drama, some of it still continuing from last year, that I didn't think it could possibly get any worse. But it did, and at lunch, too.

"Really?" Gretchen's asking me now as we walk into the cafeteria by her pushing open the heavy doors even though they're supposedly locked. This school really does need better security eventually, once Gretchen leaves the school, of course. I mean...if that ever happens.

"It was _crazy_," I inform her as she walks into the place where the food is actually served to the students. She goes over to the salad serving station, opens it up, and grabs a plastic container as I start to tell her about the day. "So, I assume you've heard about the whole Buford, Vienna, and Django catastrophe?"

"Who hasn't?" She starts to put some lettuce of various kinds in the container.

"Well, I don't know, I...didn't know if you had, since..." I trail off when I realize how dumb I must sound. Gretchen told me herself that she's always on the school website. Someone else posted an article about Django kissing Vienna on it yesterday, and since then, the whole school's been talking about it. Of _course _Gretchen would know about it. "Oh, never mind. So, um, anyway, they were all pretty silent about the whole matter until Adyson stood up on top of her chair at our table and whistled loudly with two fingers. This whole place went silent like that."

"Adyson?" Gretchen looks at me strangely for a brief second before returning her attention back to her salad. She's putting some tomatoes and other stuff on it, now. "What does _she _have to do with all of this?"

"Well...basically..." I hesitate. "Adyson got mad at V because she thought V was the one that kissed Django, not the other way around."

"Yet she claims not to care about her ex any longer." Gretchen rolls her eyes. "God, why is there always so much unnecessary drama around here? It didn't used to be like that."

"I don't know." I shrug. "But yeah, Adyson stood up and all, and then she _exploded _on both V and Django, cursing at them and insulting them greatly. Django had to leave the cafeteria, and Buford went with him."

Her eyes, covered in black makeup, grow wide. "They left? Did they come back?"

"Nope. Django actually left the building when he told the nurse he was sick, which may or may not have actually been true. Buford just left with no explanation."

"Gosh." She shakes her head and sighs, closing up the plastic container and then grabbing another one. She's currently stocking up on her lunches for the week, which is why we're in here. Once she's done with those, then she'll get her dinners and then breakfasts later, after I leave to go home. She saves getting the breakfasts for last because they're always hidden away somewhere, and it takes a while for her to find them since they're always in a different place. "I feel bad for Django. He's such a good guy, but he always messes things up. So what happened when he and Buford left?"

I sigh, wincing at the memory. "Well...to put it simply, V started to insult Adyson back while the rest of the cafeteria had a loss of words. And they were _really _good insults. Like... ones _Lilly_ would use."

Gretchen raises her eyebrows, which I can only just barely see from her choppy, half brown, half multicolored bangs almost completely covering them. "What _were _some of the insults?"

"Hmm...let me see if I can remember their whole conversation." I think hard, but nothing is coming to mind. "Maybe we can just go into flashback mode. Then you can see exactly what happened without me actually telling you."

She nods. "Sounds good." With that, we look up at the ceiling, where the whole scene from three hours ago starts to play.

_Vienna slams her fist down onto the table, eyes narrowing at Adyson. I notice that Ginger in particular is appearing to enjoy all of this. "You know what?" she asks her former best friend. "Sometimes, I wonder if your ass is jealous of the shit that comes out of your mouth."_

_Next to me, Isabella squirms in her chair, an uneased look on her face. She hates when people swear. Emily, too, usually, but all that's on _her _face is a look of panic. The rest of the cafeteria gasps, and one guy yells, "Burn, baby, burn!"_

_"Oh, really?" Adyson fakes a laugh. "You really should be talking to my ass. After all, it's actually the only thing that gives a shit about what you're telling me."_

_"So many bad words," Aubrey whispers on my other side. She nervously chews her animal crackers._

_"Keep talking," V yells, obviously forgetting about her voice and how she should preserve it. "Maybe one day, you'll actually say something intelligent."_

_"Is that your face?" Adyson screams back, now getting off of her chair and stomping over to V. "Or did your neck just throw up?"_

"Ouch," my friend winces. I notice that she's completely stopped making her salad.

_"Hey, were you born on a highway?" Vienna wonders, cocking her head and placing her hand under her chin. "Because they say that's where the most accidents happen, not unlike the one inside of you now."_

"Oh my God," Gretchen gasps. "She did _not _just say that."

"But she did." I nod. "Yeah...but it gets worse. Much worse."

_Everyone gasps again, and Adyson narrows her eyes, clenching her fist. "This has _nothing _to do with that." Her voice is shaking._

_"Oh, really?" Vienna's voice is dripping with sarcasm. "I'm surprised you haven't figured this out and that I was the first one to really put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. Are you aware of the fact that your child's birth certificate is really just an apology letter from the condom factory?"_

_Nobody in the cafeteria says a word, just gaping at her. Even Ginger, the queen of gossip like this, looks stunned. Adyson, meanwhile, is just standing there, her bottom lip wobbling and face starting to crumple up. "Adyson," Isabella says quietly, starting to stand up in her chair. _

_Vienna, at the sight of Adyson starting to cry, suddenly has a look of realization pass over her face. I think she knows that she went _way _too far with that one. "Ad, I'm sorry-" V starts to say, but she doesn't get to finish, because Adyson turns around and walks as fast as she can out of the cafeteria. Isabella, having left the table, runs after her._

_I look up at Vienna at this point, and she looks to be at the point of crying, as well. But she doesn't leave the place, just sits back down in her chair. Nobody in the cafeteria says a word, not even when the bell rings to excuse us to our next class._

"All of that because of jealousy over a guy." Gretchen sighs as soon as the flashback ends. She returns to finishing up her second salad and is about to start on her third. "It's so ridiculous. I'm glad Ferb and I never had that kind of crap happen to us when we were still going out."

"Yet, you're still having problems with Isabella and Emily," I remind her.

She makes a face. "That's quite different. The grudge I've held for them has lasted for far longer than this little feud of V and Ad's, and it's not because of a guy. They'll be friends again in no time once they realize how stupid they and Django are being. I'm not blaming Buford since I still don't believe he was the one who wrote that article in the first place."

I look over at her curiously. "Really?"

"Oh gosh, yes." After appearing to consider her options, she grabs two more of the plastic containers and starts working on three salads at a time. "Did you really think that the article sounded like Buford?"

"Somewhat. I mean, who else would have known that they got together at prom?"

"Um..." Now Gretchen looks at me strangely as she puts some carrots on one salad. "Everyone who was _there_. V performed her first original song, and then she later told all of us that Buford had texted her saying that he loved her. Therefore...that had to be when they got together."

"Oh." I flush, now remembering and feeling like an idiot. "Right. Sorry."

"No big deal." She shrugs. "It happened a long time ago, anyway." She examines all of her salads, and, after nodding, closes all of them shut. She then grabs a few packets of salad dressing and tucks them into one of her boots. "All right. Let's go back to the gym. I assume you want a cigarette?"

"I haven't had one all day," I inform her truthfully.

She winces. "Ooh. I mean, it's good for you, but..." She trails off as she closes the salad station up, grabbing her lunches for the week. I offer to help her carry some, but she just shakes her head. "You know what I mean."

"I do." I begin to follow her out of the cafeteria at this point after we both check for teachers. The school still hasn't installed any security cameras yet, either, so we don't really have to worry about getting caught. However, we still try our best to be cautious. The last thing we would want is to run into the principal at a time like this. "But, to be honest...I'm trying to only cut down onto one a day. Then, eventually, I'll just have one every other day. And the pattern will continue until I officially quit."

"That's...good." I notice that we've reached the gym now, and, before I can open the door, she thrusts her leg up and kicks it open. When I turn to gape at her, she ignores me, just walking into the gym like nothing happened. Blinking, I hurry after her into her place of residence under the bleachers, where she's putting her salads down into her little cooler that she brought from home the night she ran away. She told me all of that beforehand. "It's good that you're willing to quit."

"I am," I say, nodding. "It's not doing any good for me, and I hate lying to my family and friends. I have to stop, whether or not my body and mind want me to."

She's trying to hide it, but I can see Gretchen biting her lip. I frown. Wouldn't she be glad of the fact that I'm trying to recover from my mental instabilities? But I decide to stay nothing about it.

"So. Um." I hesitate. What else am I _supposed _to say? It's already become quite awkward in the last couple of minutes. As soon as we started talking about smoking, it was like Gretchen hit the _off _switch, both physically and mentally. "I...have to use the bathroom." I don't, really, but I needed to break the ice.

Gretchen looks up from her phone, of which she had been looking at. "Okay, then. Just use the ones in the locker rooms. Nobody ever goes in there, both students and custodians."

I nod, and after peeking out to be sure that no one just so happened to wander into the gym, step out from under the bleachers and walk over to the door that leads to the locker rooms. Whether or not this is the male or female one, I don't know. It's not as if she specified which was which. I guess it doesn't really matter since, as she said, no one ever comes in here.

I open the door, and after glancing in, I think I can safely say that this is the female one. All of the stalls have doors on them, after all. Since I don't really have to use the bathroom for its intended purpose, I just stand by the door and think.

The truth is...I didn't say this to Gretchen, but I finally told my dad about the way I felt over the last couple of years and how I had turned to smoking to help me treat it. I'm not going to say he was okay with the smoking (I'm grounded for God knows how long), but he did tell me that he was sorry for not realizing how I felt earlier, of which I had apologized for not telling him.

I'm now taking medicine to help me overcome my nicotine addiction, so, obviously, I've cut down on the amount of cigarettes I take in each day. I'm also seeing a psychologist, and she's really helped me understand who I am and who I'm supposed to be. For the first time in a while...life's actually been good for me.

That's why I'm so worried about Gretchen. She hasn't taken any steps into getting better, which greatly concerns me. I still continue to see her about once a week or so, but she just seems to keep on deteriorating. A teeny part of her has seemed to wilt away every time I look at her, and teeny parts of her keep going away whenever I try to talk to her about herself.

Sighing, I uncross my arms and look back into the room. I had been looking at the ceiling the entire time I was thinking, and now, staring at the room, I wonder why I was doing that. Something seems...wrong. I just can't point my finger in the right direction as to what that is.

Deciding to see what my gut instinct tells me is wrong, I cautiously take a real step into the locker room and out of the bathroom. As expected, there are rows of gym lockers that all look like jail cells, and between each row are several benches. I look through each row, and, also as expected, there's nothing. Except for one thing in one row.

I stare at that one thing from a distance, wondering if I should go over and see what it is. It's white and red, and has an odd shape. Biting my lip, I walk over to the object without even thinking about it, and I notice that my breath has become uneven. Why is my instinct telling me that this object isn't something that's good?

Because, as I get closer to it, I realize what exactly it is, and that it's not good. I also realize that something's wet around it.

It's a plastic knife, one that would be used in the cafeteria for spreading butter onto a piece of hard bread or cutting some half cooked turkey. But this knife clearly wasn't used for either of those purposes, because, there's blood around it. And not just a little blood. A _lot _of blood. It's all over the bench, and there's also a little bit on the floor. I stare at it in horror, my eyes growing wider with each passing second.

"Milly?"

It was so silent in that locker room that I didn't notice Gretchen walk in. Which, in some way, explains the scream that leaves my throat and the way my heart leaps in my chest. I, frankly, would be shocked if nobody else in the school heard me. Or if the birds outside didn't become startled and fly off of the power lines, heading to some other destination in the world.

"Oh," I say, swallowing. "my God."

Gretchen stands there right behind me, her eyes wide. "Holy cow," she says incredulously. "I've never heard you scream that loud before. Or...at all, really."

"You scared the _crap _out of me." I take another very deep breath.

"Well, sorry.." She stands there, an uncertain look on her face. "You were just gone for so long, that I didn't know if you were..."

It's at this moment in which I step aside from my blocking of the plastic knife and the blood, and her gaze travels down to it. Her face turns white. "Oh, God," she mutters. Now she looks back at me. "Milly, I swear, it's not what you think-"

"You're _hurting _yourself?"

Gretchen bites her lip. "Well...um..."

"Take off your arm warmers," I demand, still shaking my head in disbelief. "Or whatever the heck those are called."

She looks down at the black sleeves on her arms that also cover her wrists and her thumbs up to the nails. Her bottom lip wobbles. "Milly...I-"

"Do it." I give her my coldest stare. "_Now_."

Gretchen gulps, and with that said, she slowly removes the arm warmers, small tears also falling from her eyes. What was under the arm warmers makes me gasp and cover my mouth. Multiple scars of various lengths and also various colors of red cover her hands as well as all over her arms. I notice that a few are still bleeding, which must explain the blood that was on this bench, because it was clearly very recent. "I also have some on my legs, and my stomach," she sniffles. "But...I figure you don't need to see those. You get the idea."

"Gretchen..." I whisper, blinking repeatedly and struggling not to cry. "This is bad. This has gotten _so _bad."

She nods quickly, immediately grabbing her arm warmers off of the floor and sliding them back on. "All right. Um...I'm just going to head back to the bleachers and have a cigarette-"

"I'm not letting you get away with this."

She stops from her position facing the door, slowly turning around to face me.

"I'm _not_," I say firmly.

Gretchen inhales, and then exhales. "Milly...we're friends, right?"

"Yes, we are. And friends help each other. Gretchen...you need _help_. I should have realized it before you went this far."

She turns away now, walking over to the paper towel dispenser and grabbing one. Black-colored tears are falling down her face, and she's trying her best to wipe them away. "I can't believe you would tell an adult about this."

"I have to before you _kill _yourself. Gretchen, I don't think you realize how much you need an adult's support."

"I don't need a stranger telling me what to do." She's looking into a mirror and wiping off her makeup. I haven't seen her without it in a really long time, and it's a little strange. "And while I've _thought _about taking my life...I'm not."

"Well, at the rate you are, you most certainly are going to, and soon." I walk to the doorway of a locker room. "I'm telling my dad about this, and then we'll notify your family as soon as he can get your home phone number. Then you can be put into rehab and start working your way towards becoming the person you were before all of this happened."

"No, you're not." She sounds horrified, dropping the paper towel into the sink. "You _wouldn't_ do that."

"Oh, but I would." My voice is shaky, but I try to keep it calm. "I don't want to lose a friend just because I couldn't get you the support you needed before it was too late." I shake my head. "I'm sorry."

Before she can reply, I've hurried out of the room, was in the hallway, and have run outside, where I dial my dad's phone number. It goes to voicemail, so I leave him a message. "Hey, Dad. There's something I _have _to tell you as soon as I get home. It has to do with Gretchen. I'll see you when I get home. Love you, bye."

I shut it closed, hoping for the best to come out in the end before things can officially become bad. And by bad...I mean for somebody to no longer live on the planet that doesn't need to leave yet.

**Next Chapter Preview: Irving decides to finally have a serious talk with Aubrey. Well...as serious as it can get, anyway.**

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**Gretchen has officially lost it, as you guys can see. Even though she may not realize it yet, it's good that she has a good friend like Milly to help her out. **

**I really hope I didn't screw this up. Please, please, tell me if something seems off. Self harming and contemplating suicide are two **_**very **_**extreme subjects, and while I was hesitating on tackling more serious topics, I realized that they were just as important to touch on as rape and underage drinking and smoking, if not more important. If anything like this is going on for you, **_**please **_**get the help that you need. Don't make someone else have to do it for you, or, worse, get no help at all. Gretchen has been doing this for months, so she got lucky. Quite lucky.**


	44. Baljeet and Phineas Tell Irving

_**Friday, April 20, 6:00 PM**_

_**The Sansone Residence**_

_**Irving**_

"I'm sleepy," Aubrey complains next to me, covering her mouth as she yawns. Upon finishing, she then looks at me, her eyes suddenly grown wide. She has a panicked expression on her face. "I mean, if that's okay with you-"

"It's fine," I sigh, moving the practice paper for adding and subtracting we were working on together aside.

Today's been our first tutoring session together for a long time, mainly because we haven't seen each other that often, lately, and plus, there's been a lot of tension between us ever since Holly pointed out to me that I was being a terrible boyfriend. It's not like I told Aubrey that I talked to Holly, but...I get the feeling that she knows, anyway. Every time I try to talk to her, she always gives me the look that she gave me now, just moments before.

It's not like I don't deserve that look. I know now that what I was trying to do to Aubrey, to make her smarter, ultimately made her feel worthless of herself. This wasn't at all my intention, but I see now how I could have hurt her. So now, I'm trying to be more understanding when she says that she doesn't understand her letters or how to add one plus one. She can't help who she is, and that's something to be considered when tutoring someone like her. However...I can't say that that's an easy thing.

"I know you're tired," I continue to Aubrey as she slumps down in her chair. Being hyper and energetic all day always makes her sleepy at insanely early times. "But this stuff's important. You want to move up to kindergarten-level schoolwork, right?" I make my tone softer so that she doesn't interpret my wording the wrong way. "Don't you think it would be great to say that you _did _it? That you accomplished something that took you so long to do?"

She nods, though the nodding is so imperceptible that I almost don't see it. I now have to wonder if she acknowledged anything I just said to her. Sighing, I glance over at the clock. 6:03. We've officially been at this for two hours straight, which also means that I haven't seen anything that Phineas and Ferb have done for two hours straight. My eyes widen. That is _not _good.

"Um...Aubrey? Where's your bathroom?"

She looks up at me, only long enough so that she can look at me quizzically. I realize that I have to put it into her 'language', so to speak.

"Where's...the magical poop stealing water chair?" I force myself not to cringe.

All of a sudden, her face brightens up. Slightly. "Over there," she says, clearing her throat since her voice came out all rusty. She points to the hallway behind me, which I know leads to the three tiny bedrooms in the apartment. "It's the first door. I...don't know how to tell left from right, so..." She trails off, making a point of looking away from me.

"It's fine, Aubrey. Thank you." I nod, anxious to get out of there to see what Phineas and Ferb are doing. Quickly, I turn around and walk into the room that's literally right behind me. Sure enough, it's the bathroom. Huh. I thought Aubrey was wrong, since, after all, she usually is.

After shutting the door, I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and touch Phineas' name on my contact list. Unfortunately, my security cameras that I use for spying aren't working anymore, for some reason, so I just have to settle for actually talking to people in order to hear them, not seeing them at the same time. I bite my lip as I bring the phone to my ear. Phineas doesn't always answer his phone, which, of course, is understandable. He's always doing something.

"Hi, Irving!"

I breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing his voice, and I start smiling. He sounds pretty cheerful, so whatever he's doing must be something he loves doing. "Hello, Phineas. What are you doing right now?"

"Well...we're actually _making _something." The happiness in his voice sounds identical to a five-year old's when you tell it that it can have a cupcake for no reason. "As in...an _invention_!"

I almost choke on my spit out of shock. "_What_?"

"Ferb, Emily, Isabella, and Baljeet are here, too. Nobody else wanted to come." I picture him shrugging in his carefree style. "But that's okay! We're still having fun, nonetheless."

"What are you guys making?" I realize that I'm starting to sound too eager. "I mean...if you don't mind telling me, that is."

"Why would I mind? It's really cool, and I came up with the idea during school this morning when we were getting ready and wondering where Perry was, just like we always used to! But then we had to go to school, and it seemed like it was _forever _before we were able to get home and-"

"Phineas. The invention. What is it?" I glance nervously at the doorway. Before long, Aubrey's going to notice that I'm taking a lot longer than I should be in here.

"Oh, right. Sorry!" I love how he doesn't even sound the least bit embarrassed or annoyed on being interrupted. "With this machine that Ferb and I built, we can transform ourselves into having the ability to be bioluminescent!"

I blink. "Which is..."

"The ability to convert a chemical reaction inside of one's body into light. Think of fireflies, or certain species of jellyfish that live in deep depths underwater. That's why we're not using the invention until it's dark out, so that we can actually see the results and have fun with it."

"That _does _sound fun." _A lot more fun than attempting to tutor Aubrey, _I think bitterly to myself, then mentally smack myself. _Irving, stop it. She. Can't. Help. Who. She. Is._

"I'm sure it will be. So, how about you? What are you doing?"

I sigh. "Tutoring Aubrey." I don't leave out the grudge in my voice.

Of course, Phineas doesn't notice it. He never notices anything negative, just focuses on the positive even when there's barely any. "Oh, that's great! What's she learning? Important things, right?"

"Yeah..." I pause, wondering if I should just tell him how I really feel about it, and...her. "Listen, Phineas...are you guys just kind of resting, right now? Because I feel like I should ask you something, but..."

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily say that we're _resting. _A more proper verb would be..." He thinks for a second. "Relaxing. Yeah, relaxing. Just until it gets dark out, of course, and then we can actually use the invention."

"So...I _can _ask you something."

"Of course, Irving. What is it?"

I hesitate. I know that this will seem like an odd question to ask, but I feel like I should know the answer. "Phineas...how do you feel when you're with Isabella?"

"Isabella?"

"Yeah. When you're with her...how do you feel inside?"

He's silent for a few seconds, likely thinking about his response. "Hmm...well, next to Ferb, she's my best friend, so I know that whatever she tells me is the truth. She loves whenever I talk about inventing in front of her, since she knows that it's what I like doing." I notice that his tone gets happier sounding every second that he speaks. "She always tells me that she's proud of me, and...she's romantic, but not so romantic that it makes me uncomfortable. I can always tell how she's feeling without her telling me. All of what I just said...makes me happy. Even happier than usual." He sighs in a content manner. "That's how I feel with her around."

I can't help but keep a smile on my face, even in my current situation. I don't think he even realizes how much he actually loves his girlfriend, which is just adorable. I wish I felt the same way with mine. "Wow, Phineas...have you ever told her that?"

"Told her what?" He sounds confused, and I sigh. It's clear that he hasn't lost _all _of his obliviousness.

"That you're in love with her."

"I'm in love with her?" Now he _really _sounds confused.

"_Yes_." Is he even for real? I rub my eyes. "Do you not know how you just _talked _about her? You're not just in _like_ at this point, Phineas, and that's obvious. Do you know how much I would give to be able to love Aubrey like that if I could?"

"You don't love Aubrey?"

I suddenly realize my mistake. "Never mind that; go back to what I was saying before."

"What were you saying before?"

I grit my teeth. "_That you love Isabella_."

"I love Isabella?"

"_Yes!"_

"Really?...Really? I do?"

I resist the urge to pinch myself to be sure I'm not dreaming. This was not what I was hoping for when I asked him about his relationship with Isabella. I wanted to compare his with mine and Aubrey's, and now, I can tell that Aubrey and I _really _don't work. Speaking of Aubrey, I really should get back to her even though I don't especially want to. "Yes. You are. And-"

"Hold on a second, Irving. Baljeet's trying to talk to me." He pauses, and I can only hear snippets of their conversation through the phone line.

I wait for about a minute, and, right as I'm about to hang up out of irritation, someone else comes on the line. "Hello? Irving, are you still there?"

I'm a little annoyed by the fact that I'm suddenly speaking to Baljeet, now. I don't know why he would even want to talk to me, since we've never really been _friends_. And why would Phineas abandon me like that, without even saying goodbye? It's not like him. "Yes," I sigh, running my bare foot along one of the tiles on the floor. I'm surprised Aubrey hasn't called for me at this point. I have to have been gone for at least ten minutes. "Yes, I am."

"Phineas informed me that you told him that you did not love Aubrey, after you told him that he loved Isabella, of course. I felt the need to interfere. What is this about?"

"Oh, for crying out loud," I grumble, slightly ticked off. "It's not a big deal...I just...I don't..." I continue to fumble with my words. "Ugh. You know what? It doesn't matter. I have to get back to her-"

"No, you do not." He says this in a calming tone. "Irving, you do not understand. I must speak with you so that you can realize how love works. By your informing Phineas, it appears that you do not love Aubrey."

"Not...really." I bite my lip.

Baljeet lets out a huffy breath. He must not be as patient as I thought he was going to be in this conversation. "Then why are you still with her, I must ask?"

"I don't know," I say, feeling frustrated. "Why would I tell _you_, anyway? It's not like you and Ginger are that close, anyway. Right? Or am I wrong, and I should feel stupid?"

He's quiet for a few seconds. During this time, he exhales, and I hear something else in the background, something that sounds like cheers. I glance out the window here in this bathroom, and sure enough, the sun has started to set and change color. "Irving...does anyone ever _question_ why I am in a relationship with Ginger?"

"Try...everyone."

"It is because she is an entirely different person when she is around people she cares about." His tone drops to a whisper. "I am going to another part of the yard, so excuse my being quiet. Everyone wonders why Ginger and I are together, and that is the reason."

I shake my head in disbelief. I can't imagine Ginger being like anything but...herself. The mean, snotty jerk that we've all come to know being...the opposite of that?

"I know that you likely do not think of her as anything other than...who she appears to be. But she truly is a wonderful person."

I snort without even thinking about it.

"You can contradict it all you want, and you have every right to. She has...been rather nasty, lately."

"Gee. Really?" I sarcastically ask him.

"But that is because she is insecure about herself. And while I do not mean to sound conceited...I am the only person she can talk to without feeling a need to be cruel," Baljeet explains. He sighs. "Are you aware of the fact that she thinks of herself as worthless?"

"Really."

"Yes. Do not tell anyone that I told you this, or she will kill me, but...she calls me every night crying about how selfish she is, about how much of a b-word she is, and how guilty she is about everything that she's done, especially for putting that article in Buford's name on the website and causing so much more trouble than she thought-"

"_What_?" I sit up straighter in my seat, eyes widening in shock.

He gulps. "Um..." He chuckles nervously. "Forget what I have just told you, please. Anyway...what I am trying to tell you is that sometimes, your significant other acts differently around you than they would for anyone else, like for myself and Ginger. We work together because she can trust me with her secrets." He pauses. "Well...most of the time. But that does not matter here. What matters here is yourself and Aubrey. Do you think she behaves differently around you? Does she trust you? Most importantly...has she shown any form of loving you for however long you have been dating?"

"No," I whisper, slumping down in my seat again and feeling more pathetic than ever.

"Then it is time to make a decision on where your relationship stands. Would you like this to continue, or would you like her to be happy?"

"Well...um...I-"

"Oh, I am sorry, Irving, but I must go. Phineas just called me to try the bioluminescence, since it is now dark. I will talk to you later."

_No you won't, _I think to myself, rolling my eyes. But what I say out loud is, "Okay. Thanks, Baljeet."

"You are welcome." He says nothing more after this, and before long, I hear the phone click shut. Sighing, I look up at the door. I don't really want to go back to Aubrey, but I know that she's very likely asleep at this point and it would be rude to just leave without saying goodbye. Plus...I need to have a serious conversation with her. Well, at least, as serious as it can get.

I stand up, and since I'm right by the door, I open it immediately and stick my head out to peek at Aubrey. Much to my surprise, she's still sitting there at the desk, and she now appears to be wide awake. She's holding pieces of her hair between her fingers, stroking them until they fall back down.

"Um..." I clear my throat. "Hi, Aubrey."

She looks over at me. "Oh. Hi, Irving." I expect her to say something about the magical poop stealing water chair wanting a lot, since that's what she usually says. But she instead just acts like nothing happened, pulling my chair out from under the table. "Are you...going to keep teaching me to learn?"

I take a deep breath. "No," I inform her, taking the seat. "I'm not."

She cocks her head, still blinking repeatedly. "Why? Did I do something wrong?" That panicked look shows up, again. "I mean-"

"No, Aubrey." I sigh, and then just admit it, telling her the rest in one single breath. "_I _did something wrong. I kept you from being...you, and that's a...very bad thing. I was a mean person to you, telling you that you weren't intelligent and should be, when you're...actually smart in your own way." I finally take a chance to breathe after this.

She's still looking at me, and I can see a small spark of confusion in her eyes. "So...what are you saying? I don't get it."

"Aubrey..." I pause. "I want you to be honest with me. Do you know what honest means?"

She nods. "I learned it with Miss Sara. It means to tell the truth."

"Good. So, um...I want you to give me an honest answer to this question. Who do you love? And by love..." I swallow. "I mean...romantically."

"Romantically?" She says this word slowly, as if it's something foreign.

"Yes...who you love love. Like...people that are married, or are dating. That kind of love. Who is that person, to you?"

Aubrey looks unsure of herself. "Well...um..." A bit of pink begins to show up on her cheeks. "Irving..."

"It's not me, is it?" I quietly interrupt, shaking my head since I already know the answer.

She hesitates. "Well...u-um...no." She hangs her head, face expressing shame. "I don't love anyone. It's very sad."

"Well...I think someone loves you, still." I feel myself start to smile even though I'm talking about the person I've never had a great relationship with. "Holly. And I believe that _you _still love her."

Now Aubrey's cheeks are bright red. "What? T-That's crazy. That's..." She trails off.

"No, it's not." I grab her hand from across the table, and she looks down at it. Her facial expression remains the same, which reassures me into thinking that I'm saying the right things. "Listen. I think that all you guys have to do is to try being friends, and then later, be girlfriends again. You can do that, can't you? And...I won't bother you. We'll just be friends."

"Just...friends?"

"Yes." Now I really begin to smile, knowing that everything between all of us is now going to be okay. I really have to thank Baljeet and Phineas later for making me realize that what I was doing to Aubrey and Holly was wrong. "Just friends."

**Next Chapter Preview: Darren tells Lilly a secret in what one could say is a creative way.**

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**A****nd...that semi-concludes another storyline. Now Irving can finally be the independent, obsessed fan that he wants to be, and Aubrey can go back to actually being happy. Now we just have to see Holly and Aubrey's first conversation in a while...but that'll come later. I'm also glad that I was able to fit some Phinbella and Balinger in here, too. I haven't put a ton of actual romance in this story, but I think it's better that way. I'm not really a fan of pure fluff, after all.**

**As for the next chapter...all I can say is that any Larren fan out there will both love and hate the next chapter. It's...complicated. XD You'll see.**


	45. What Just Happened?

_**Sunday, April 29, 7:07 PM**_

_**The Stephens/Carlson Residence**_

_**Lilly**_

I'm glancing anxiously out the front window, biting my lip down hard. It's pouring down rain outside as of right now, and it's starting to thunder as well. The clouds are continuing to become darker values of various colors, especially gray and blue, and the sky isn't very visible because of that.

What concerns me is the fact that Darren's out there right now, likely getting a ride from one of his parents or someone. He wasn't available to do our usual tutoring time at eleven in the morning on either Saturday or today, so he had to come by at seven at night tonight. But, of course, tonight just so happens to be the biggest storm that Danville's had in years, and the weather station has advised everyone to stay in their homes until further notice. I tried to tell him this just a few minutes ago, but he just shrugged it off, deliberately ignoring me.

Sighing, I finally back away from the window after trying to peek through the millions of water droplets clinging to it that are taking my view of the outside world away. Grant, who is sitting down on the floor behind me on his stomach, coloring one of his pictures he drew in his drawing pad, looks up at me. He notices the expression on my face, and he frowns. "What's wrong, Lilly?" he wonders.

"Darren's coming," I inform him, stroking my red hair like I always do when I'm nervous. "And there's that giant storm outside. I just..." I trail off, knowing that he wouldn't understand if I tried to explain it to him. "Oh, forget it."

"Okay." He shrugs carelessly and goes back to coloring his tiger various colors, grabbing a potato chip from the bag next to him and munching on it. It's amazing how stress-free his life is. He doesn't have to worry about girls, or friends turning his back on him, or his grades, or anything. His worries include whether or not the potato chip bag will have enough chips in it to last his drawing session or how the next episode of his favorite cartoon is going to be. His life is so easy.

It's at this moment when the doorbell rings, startling me. "Oh, thank God," I breathe in relief, beginning to wheel myself over to the door. I look back down at my brother. "Can you sit up, at the very least?"

"Nah." He doesn't move up an inch as his sticky little hands reach back into the bag again, little pieces of his hair falling into his face. He doesn't even brush them away, just scribbling some purple onto the tiger.

Shaking my head, I reach over to the doorknob and quickly pull it open. The porch has a shade over it, but it still has to be cold out there. Obviously, standing there is Darren, looking completely unaffected by the weather, as he has his raincoat on and will be dry in no time once he takes it off. He's holding the bag that contains my stuff for this next tutoring session. "Hi, Lilly," he greets me, setting the bag down.

"Hi," I say, avoiding his eyes so I don't start blushing. I move my chair back a few inches. "Come in, come in."

"Will do." He proceeds to step in as I close the door behind him, and as he's taking his coat off, he glances over into the living room. "Hi, Grant."

"Hi," my brother chirps. He finally looks up, and smiles, holding up his picture. To put it simply, it's...very colorful. "What do you think of my picture?"

Darren leans down to examine it. "Hmm. Well..." He bites the inside of his cheek. "Would you mind if I asked you a little something?"

Grant's eyes grow wide. "Like what?"

"Like..." He now gets down on his knees. "Where _is _the tiger, exactly? You only have him in a white world. That's a little boring, isn't it?"

My brother appears to consider this. "Yeah...should I make his world colorful, too?"

"But, of course. That's the only way his world _can _be." He looks over at me now and smiles, winking at me. I smile back, feeling myself flush at the same time, but not caring.

"Hmm." Grant taps his finger on his chin several times. "That's very true." He picks up a red crayon. "I'm gonna make his world have red skies with green and yellow rain and blue trees."

"Sounds good." Darren stands up. "Show it to us when you're done, okay? I can't wait to see it."

The thing I love about him when he says this is that I know that what he's saying is genuine. He told me before that he's always liked little kids, so he understands their 'language' pretty well. If you don't do as you say you will, he said, they get upset. And Darren hates upsetting people.

"All right, Lilly," he's telling me now as we go over to the dining room table, which isn't far away from the living room. "Today, we are beginning the very last unit in your pre-calculus studies, and then you'll officially be all caught up with the rest of your class."

"I would think that with you as my tutor, I would be even _more _ahead of the others," I inform him truthfully. "Nobody gets it."

"But _you _do." He sits down in his usual seat next to my spot at the table and pulls out the red math folder. Out of _that_, he pulls out a worksheet. "And you're going to prove that to me by doing this little test I've made up all by yourself, without any help. And it will take you...I would say ten minutes."

I raise my eyebrows. "Ten minutes."

"Yeah." Darren looks at me intently with those sapphire blue eyes. "Ten minutes is the alotted amount of time I'm giving you. It's five problems, so it's two minutes per problem." When I open my mouth to protest, he shushes me by making a slow zipping motion in the air. "You know how to do these, Lilly. I know you do. I have faith in you."

I bite my lip and glance down at the paper that's still sitting in front of him. "But-"

"Uh uh." He shakes his head, a bit of a smirk now playing at the corners of his lips. He loves to see me get all anxious like this, and therefore, tease me a little in the process. "No protests."

I exhale, tired of arguing when I know that I'm just going to lose anyway. "Fine."

"Good." He slides the paper over to me now, but keeps his eyes directly on me as I reach out my hand to grab it and bring it over to my side. However, because of my looking away and up at the ceiling, I'm not paying attention as to where my hand's going, so instead of it landing on my paper...it lands on Darren's hand.

My eyes widen as I look down to see my fingers on top of his. To my surprise...he's not pulling away, also staring down at it. His hand is warm, and a little bit sweaty. As red as my hair, I pull away, now actually pulling the paper back with me. "Sorry..." I mutter, grabbing the pencil that Darren brought with him.

"It's...cool." Darren shakes his head, also blinking several times. He looks over at the clock on the stove. "So, um...your ten minutes begins...as of right now."

I don't respond to this, just beginning to work on the problems. I'm not going to say that they're easy. In fact, they're quite the opposite. I have to think hard for each one, and each time, I worry that I'm not going to get it. But then, something Darren told me before about each kind of problem just comes to me, and then I'm able to do it the way that it's supposed to be done.

The entire time I work on the problems, Darren doesn't get out a book or something like he normally does when I do this kind of stuff, or even get out his lesson plans and review those for a second. He doesn't even work on some of his own homework, though that's probably done by now, anyway. What he does instead is just stare at me, his arms folded and on top of the table, and whenever I look up at him, he quickly looks away from me and into the kitchen or back at the living room, where Grant is still coloring, and acts like he's been doing it the whole time.

Something's up with him, and it's bugging me as to what that is. All of a sudden...he's being weird around me. Maybe it was because of my accidentally holding his hand? But why would he be weird about it? Unless...

No. There's no way.

About ten seconds after I place my pencil down, Darren tells me that time's up. Being careful not to touch his hand again, I slide the paper over to him for him to examine. As he looks down at it, I make a point of looking down at my lap and clasping my hands together. I still can't believe that one of them just touched one of Darren's. And...he didn't even _mind _it.

I decide to look up after about twenty seconds, and that was a good time to do it, apparently, because it's when he looks up at me. A smile is on his face. "You did it," he tells me, a proud look displayed. "You did it, Lilly."

* * *

_**A little while later, 8:03 PM**_

"You're kidding," I whisper, my eyes wide. I clutch my mug of hot cocoa in a tighter grip, staring at him in shock. "You actually failed a test, once?"

"It was in first grade," he grudgingly mutters. He sets his own mug down on the floor. "But...yes. I did. It was one that had to do with patterns, and I just couldn't get it."

Since Darren's parents had told him that they weren't going to pick him up until 8:30, we figured we would take that to our advantage and talk for a while about pretty much whatever. It's not like we have anything better to do, and it's also not like I have plans elsewhere. Which, of course, is rare. So, as of right now, we're playing a game where we always have to tell the truth to each other, and the current topic is the worst thing, or things, that have happened to us at school. And I'm finding Darren's insane.

"I can't believe it," I say, shaking my head and struggling not to start laughing. The last thing I want is to get a hot liquid poured in my lap from the shaking. "_You _failed a test? And on patterns? Are you kidding? That was like, the easiest lesson ever."

"Not for me, it wasn't." His tone gets quiet. "Um...don't tell anyone I told you that, okay? I haven't actually told that to anyone, yet..."

"Like anyone cares about a failed math test back in first freaking grade," I scoff, rolling my eyes. I proceed to stare down into my nearly empty mug like it's a bottomless pit, but I'm still trying to find the bottom. "Like anyone cares about a failed math test in _general_."

"I suppose." He starts dragging his mug across the floor, making a few screechy sounds with each drag. "But still. It's embarrassing. At least...um, for me."

"Your 'secret'-" I use quotation fingers in the air, and he rolls his eyes- "-is safe with me. So, _my _worst school moment." I bite my lip. "Hmm...that's a tough one. Actually, not really. Can I just say that it's being with the most irritating people in the world every single day for seven hours?"

Darren snickers. "That's the same for everyone, including myself. So, no."

"Damn it." I run two fingers through my hair, which makes it kind of stick up from the static, but I find myself not really caring like I normally would. "Then...oh, I know." I sigh. "Having to work with people I hate on projects."

"Or, just working on projects with other people, in general?" He nods.

"Yeah...that too. I kinda like working alone."

"Same."

We sit there for a few more seconds, and I realize that my mug is starting to feel really hot in my hands even though it's practically empty. It must be combined with the heat of the fire that's roaring in the fireplace in front of us, so I set mine down on the floor next to Darren's in order to avoid getting some kind of burn. Burns combined with insanely pale skin, dyed red hair, and a few faint freckles that just can't be covered up with makeup are not a good combination.

"So...next topic," Darren says suddenly, adjusting his seat by crossing his legs instead of sitting on his knees. He must have gotten uncomfortable with the awkward silence, not that I blame him. "Can you think of anything before I have to go?"

"You don't have to go for another twenty minutes," I point out. I think for a few seconds before snapping my fingers. "I've got it. We'll tell each other our biggest secrets."

He blinks. "Our...biggest secrets?" He chuckles nervously. "That..._may _not be the best idea-"

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun." I give him a look. "You want to pass and lose the game?"

"No, of course not." Darren bites his lip lightly, and I notice that he keeps gazing at me in this really weird way. Sure that he can't see the blush rising up my face, I'm sure to look away.

"I'll do mine, first." I adjust my wheelchair by backing it up and then turning it more towards Darren so he can see me better. And so I'm not exposing my entire self to that fire. "All right. So...my biggest secret..." I hesitate. "Um...is that I was in the same car as my parents when they were both in the car accident that took their lives."

Of course, this isn't actually my biggest secret; that's my crush on Darren. But I sure as hell am not saying _that_. Besides, this is the second biggest that I'm telling him, so it's not too bad.

Darren, meanwhile, is staring at me. His face expresses both concern and confusion. "...What? Really?"

"See..." I sigh at the memory. "My parents had just taken my baby brother, you know, Grant, to a babysitter's. He was two weeks old at the time, but my dad had this meeting somewhere concerning his latest housing project. My mom wanted to go with him to this one since it was for someone important, like the mayor or something, and she wanted to meet him. But before that could happen...they had to pick me up from school and take me back home on the way to that meeting so that I wouldn't have to take the bus that day."

"And..."

"And so they picked me up, and everything was fine, at least...until we were right outside of the building, when a school bus turned... and rammed right into us."

Darren's eyes grow wider than I've ever seen them. "Oh my God...what happened to you, then?"

"To be honest, I don't remember," I say truthfully. "Something broke, probably, and I know I was unconscious for a day or two, but that's it." I shrug. "As you can see...cars are not my best friend."

"Definitely not." He hesitates. "Gosh...that was a pretty insane secret, Lilly. I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize. It happened, it's in the past, it's over, and it's _been_ over for nine years." I rub my hands together, and, to my surprise, they're actually kind of cold, now. I guess that's what happens when you speak of the past. "So...your secret. What would that just so happen to be?"

Darren once again bites his lip lightly, looking out the window. It stopped raining a little while ago, but it's still a little chilly outside. I can tell from the way that the tree branch outside our window keeps banging on it, which it only does when it's windy out. "I'm not going to lie," he says quietly. He stares at me harder, which makes me suddenly feel self-conscious. "My secret...involves someone else."

"Oh?" I raise an eyebrow. "In what way, may I ask?"

I can't help but notice that he keeps gazing directly at my face. I also can't help but notice the fact that I'm staring at him right back and not even looking away. _This is odd, _I think to myself. _Nice...but odd. _I see him swallow a little bit, and then reply.

"In...a way in which that someone else may not like." He exhales, but still keeps his eyes on mine. I find that my heart's beating faster than it should, and I wonder if his is, too. "It's...complicated."

I don't say anything in reply, afraid that whatever I say will just ruin what _he's _trying to say.

"Look..." Darren hesitates, and I find that he's sitting himself up straighter. He looks into my eyes again, and I find that his expression reads intense, almost doubtful. But before I can ponder it further, he scooches closer to me on the carpet. The fire in front of us continues to roar as he stands up and walks over to the nearby couch. He gestures for me to move my chair back so I'm next to him, and, feeling more confused than ever, oblige.

"Darren..." I try to talk to him, but he shushes me by holding a finger to his lips and also moving as close as he can to the end of the couch. As he leans in, I surprise myself by also leaning in as well even though my mind is screaming at me to ask what in God's name we're doing.

As we first make contact, I try not to think too hard about it, but it's practically impossible. All I can think is, _Oh my God. He's kissing me. He's effing _kissing _me. Holy fudge. Wait...does this mean...Darren _likes_ me, and that's his secret? Oh my God._

For being someone that's never kissed before, like he claimed before to me...he's pretty good at it. _Really _good at it, actually. He had grabbed my hand earlier, and without even thinking about it, I've made it travel up his arm onto his bicep, which I may or may not have squeezed once or twice. He responds positively to this, kissing me harder as I give a soft moan.

After what seems like half a century, he lets go of me, falling back onto the couch, a look of disbelief written on his face. I just sit there, facing forward in my chair, both shocked and mesmerized by what he just told me without using words. Darren truly is a genius when he wants to be. Just not on patterns in a first-grade math class, clearly.

"Um..." He clears his throat awkwardly and looks over at me. I want to look back at him so badly, but I can't. I seem to be stuck in this position. "So...yeah. That's...my secret that I've...kept for several months." He says all of this in a very slow manner, possibly trying to grab my attention. "Um...Lilly? Are you...okay?"

I try to open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. I'm still too stunned to speak.

"I knew it." The tone in his voice sounds so disappointed and hurt that I want to jump up and kiss him again, just to tell him, without words, of course, that it was the best moment of my life. But of course, I can't do that, for several obvious reasons. He stands up and sighs just as the doorbell rings. Fantastic. His parents really couldn't have waited for another five minutes to leave their house?

"I'll get it," Grant bellows even though he's all the way up in his bedroom and we're only ten feet away from the door. I hear little feet pitter-patter on the stairs, and then he appears, running over to the door in his superhero pajamas that he outgrew a year ago.

A few minutes later, after Darren leaves the house without looking back at me, I continue to just sit there in silence as Grant looks at me curiously. He notices the look of sadness on my face, and his own face falls. "What's wrong, Lilly?" he wonders in the exact same way that he did when I was waiting for Darren to get here in the first place.

I give out a shuddery breath. "...Nothing," is what I decide to tell him even though that's absolutely far from the truth. The person I've fallen in love with over the past several months now thinks that I don't return his feelings. How do I always get myself into these situations? "...Nothing at all."

**Next Chapter Preview: Emily tells Ferb something that she's been keeping from the gang for a while. A conflict between two other characters may also be going on...**

* * *

**Now do you guys see what I meant when I said that you would both love and hate this chapter? Poor Lilly...**


	46. Emily is Uncertain

_**Friday, May 4, 4:25 PM**_

_**The Kinney Residence**_

_**Emily**_

"I just...don't know, Mum," I sigh to my mother, staring down at the kitchen countertop that the barstool I'm sitting on is placed by. I make it slowly spin from left to right, left to right, again and again. "I don't know if it's such a good idea to tell him."

Mum gives me a look from the other side of the countertops, where she is examining a recipe on the computer that she found earlier. As to what that recipe is, I have no idea. All I know is that it has some form of bean and some chicken. "Emily, you got that acceptance letter _months_ ago. I'll be honest and say that I'm flabbergasted as to why you didn't tell him the second you got the news. You normally tell each other everything." She frowns at what she's looking at.

"Not everything," I mutter, biting my lip lightly.

"I just fail to see what your issue is here, darling, that's all." She shrugs, stepping back from the counter, reaching under into the cabinets, and grabbing a large pot. "It isn't like he hasn't been back to England since he first moved here, to the States."

"Mum, you don't understand." I sigh, trying my best to appear patient when in reality, my stomach keeps jumping around out of anxiety. And stress, one could say as well. "Sure, he's been back to visit both Chelsea and London, as have I, but it's not like he's _moved_ there or is _about _to move back there. It's a longer way away from the States than anyone actually thinks."

"Yes, dear." Throughout my speaking to her, Mum has been grabbing her ingredients, constantly glancing at the screen to see what else she needs for dinner. "But it isn't like you'll never see him or any of your friends again. Yes, they're all going to different universities all across the States, which means that yes, there will be less face-to-face contact, but you'll certainly meet again at holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas."

I close my eyes as I try not to lose it in front of her. She is doing anything but helping me in my situation. "Yes, but-"

"Plus, with all of the technology that keeps developing, there are so many more ways to stay in contact than there were when your father and I were young. You should know what they are; you've had more practice with it than any other generation. You can practically chat face to face even when you're not next to each other. It drives us absolutely bonkers."

I exhale, now finally beginning to grow impatient. "Yes, Mum, but-"

"So, again, Emily, if you're worried about staying in touch with your friends...you shouldn't be. That's all I'm informing you of."

"I'm _not, _though," I finally speak up, grabbing a banana out of the nearby fruit basket without even thinking of it. I start to peel it back to reveal the very pale, yellow fruit, but don't yet eat it, just letting it sit there. "Isabella, Phineas, and everyone else...I know I'll be in contact with _them_. I'm not the least bit concerned about that."

"Oh?" Mum sounds surprised. "I apologize, dear...I thought that's what you were implying."

"Well, it wasn't." I decide not to say anything more about the matter, just staring at the banana held limply in my hand. "It's...just..." My voice trails off, and I feel myself slowly start to grow red. "Never mind."

Mum looks at me curiously after tossing the black beans into the pot. "No, what is it?"

"It's nothing-"

"Emily Grace." She raises an eyebrow. "I can always tell when something's bothering you. I may not always guess correctly as to what that something is...but I know if something is."

"Fine." I place the banana on the counter and rest my cheeks onto my face, letting my elbows sit on the counter even though that's not proper. "I'm...afraid of being away from Ferb...in a whole different country."

She considers this as she stirs the beans and slightly raises the temperature. "Okay...but you were able to do that for six years. It was six, right? Because you both were four..."

"Correct." I bite my bottom lip. I'm sure that that's turning red, as well, from the amount of times I've bitten it. "But it's _different _now between us, Mum, and you know it. It's been that way for a year. And Ferb's...quite attractive, and...I'll be a whole country away..."

The realization finally comes onto her face. Yet, she still rolls her eyes good-naturedly. "Oh, good gracious. Emily, do you _really_ think he would hurt you while you were away, or ever, for that matter? Tell the truth, now."

I hesitate, still avoiding looking into straight at her. "Well...no, but-"

"You're the only person he'll have a whole conversation with, and only when no one else is around." Now she grabs the chicken and puts it into a pan, and the meat starts to sizzle. "You're the only person he's ever truly loved, and he's made that clear to you in so many ways. And...he's the only person _you've _ever truly loved, and you've also made that clear." She shrugs. "You may be young, dear...but I know love when I see it. And if I have ever seen it...besides myself and your father, of course, the two that most certainly fit that criteria more than anyone else are yourself and Ferb."

The first grin that's shown up on my face all day finally comes up.

"There she is." Mum starts to smile, as well. "Now, do me a favor and _please _get your elbows off the counter before calling Ferb up in your bedroom."

I hastily do as she says, also picking up the banana as I slide off of the barstool and walk up the nearby staircase, which leads to my bedroom right at the very top. I walk in, and after being sure that Kiki's not in here (she always acts weird whenever I talk to Ferb, for some reason), I go over to the bed, swallow the last bite of the banana, and cautiously pick up my cell phone on the little side table I have next to my bed.

I sigh as I curl myself up into the most comfortable position as I possibly can without feeling the need to fall asleep. I need to be relaxed if I'm going to be telling my boyfriend information as important as this, but not so relaxed that he will be able to hear my snoring on the other end of the line.

"Why, _hello_ there."

I can't help but giggle at how flirty his voice is. It makes my heart stop every time he uses it. "_Hello_ to you, too."

"Whom is this that I have the _pleasure_ of speaking to?"

Now I laugh, knowing that he's probably hidden somewhere in his house, away from the others. He would never let anyone else hear him talking more than a sentence, let alone in the way that he is. "You know who," I say teasingly, glancing at myself in the mirror that's right across from my bed. My cheeks are flushed pink.

"Yes, I do." I picture him with his easy, comforting smile that he really doesn't show that often. "I know that I'm speaking to the most beautiful person I've ever known, and I know that she's probably burning up in embarrassment and not knowing how to reply."

"Stop it," I snicker, only feeling myelf flush happily even more. How could I possibly think that he would leave me for an American? He's so sweet. "I've happened to call you for a very serious reason, Ferb, not _just_ to flirt on the phone."

"Aw." I picture him fake-pouting the way he only does with me. "I'm kidding. What is it?"

I take a deep breath, knowing that I'm going to have to tell him eventually. "Well...do you remember how, in the beginning of the year, we both looked at different medical schools for me, both in the United Kingdom and the States?"

He thinks for a second. "Yes...I believe so. Why?"

"Well...a few months ago, I received an acceptance letter for several of them, and I decided which one I wanted to go to. I've been keeping it from everyone for a while."

"And..."

"And...I decided to move back to England for school." The rest of the words come out in a rush. "But, I mean, it's not as if we'll never see each other again. I-I mean, it's not as if I'm leaving _forever_. I'm just, you know, I'm, well, going to be back for holidays or any other celebrations. I mean, I still have a passport, and..." I trail off, realizing that he still hasn't said anything. "...Ferb?"

He still says nothing.

"Ferb...?" I take this moment to glance down at my cell phone, and my eyes widen. I feel as if I've just been punched in the gut.

He's hung up.

* * *

_**The Thompson Residence, 4:54 PM**_

_**Vienna**_

_What's wrong? Can't you tell me what you want?_

_What's wrong? What have I done to mess you up?_

_The time has come, for this to be revealed_

_It just won't be tolerated no more_

_What's wrong? Can't figure out your brain_

_What's wrong? I'm so alone in my own mind_

_I can't tell you what you want_

_I'm isolated, don't know what is right_

"V?"

Snapping back into reality, I slide off my headphones, saving my progress on my latest song that will one day be number one on the charts. It's just that good. "Yeah, Dad?" I ask my father, who opened the soundproof walls here in my studio so that I would be able to hear him.

He gives me a weary smile. "Your mother's been calling you down for the past minute. I figured you were in here."

I grimace, knowing how much she hates it when I sing in the studio before dinner. Or ever, for that matter. "Whoops."

"No, don't apologize." I follow him out of the studio into my bedroom and out into the hall. "It sounds great, honey, really. You've done a wonderful job improving your music. I mean it. Are you performing that at the bar and pub downtown tomorrow?"

I nod, smiling. I love my dad for actually genuinely caring about me. "It's making its debut, yes."

"Good." At this point, we've reached the table, so we stop talking about my music and just sit down. My mother is glaring at me, but I pretend not to notice as I cut the asparagus into smaller pieces.

Mom exhales, clearly exasperated but deciding not to say anything. This is rare, so I'm gladly taking it. "How was school today, Vienna?"

"Fine." I shrug, not knowing a better word to describe it. "I got an A on my Chemistry exam, and I got help in understanding the material I need for my Calculus one." I purposely leave out how rehearsals for the musical went.

"Great." She nods in approval. "What about your friends? Are they doing okay?"

"Yep," I lie, since I haven't really _had _friends since the whole catastrophe with Adyson, Buford, Django, and I. The rest of our friends have kind of just been avoiding us, not really knowing what to do. Even Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and Emily, the four in our group that get along with everyone, have been steering clear of us, except for Isabella with Adyson, obviously, since they live in the same place. Though I doubt it's on purpose. Again, they just don't know what to do.

"Good." She obviously doesn't notice the look of anxiety written on my face.

After this, an awkward silence occurs. The next few minutes consist of only chewing and drinking with a few occasional glances at each other, in which we immediately look away. My dad keeps on looking as if he wants to say something, but he always hesitates and ends up not saying a word.

My mom ends up being the one to break the silence. "Um...what about college? What's...everybody doing for that? Do you know yet?"

Gosh. She clearly had a pretty uneventful day, because she never asks this many questions to me. She usually ignores me altogether. "Well," I start after swallowing. "All I know is that Phineas and Ferb are going to different schools, but they're not far from each other, so it's not a big deal for them. I know that Katie's going to some professional dance school up in New York, Baljeet's going to Yale studying the brain or something like that, and Aubrey and Savannah aren't going. But everyone else, I have no clue."

"Not even Adyson or Buford?" she wonders. "You normally tell them everything."

"Well, I doubt Adyson's going, come to think of it." I try not to wince at the sound of either of their names. "You know...and Buford...well, that's complicated."

"Yes, I do know. I'm sorry." She doesn't sound very apologetic, however. Not that I'm surprised or anything. "Robert, can you pass the asparagus?"

My father does so, looking over at me. "Didn't you tell me that Isabella's going to New York, too, for Journalism?"

I snap my fingers. "Yes."

"Cool." He smiles at me. "Maybe the the two of you and...what's her name, Katie, could stay together up there. Share an apartment or something."

"Yes," my mother interjects. "Only, our daughter isn't _going _to New York." She looks over at me, an icy look in her fake blue eyes. They're naturally brown, but she uses colored contacts. "Isn't that right, Vienna?"

My dad suddenly realizes his mistake. I haven't yet told her that I accepted to a dramatic arts school, just because I knew she would be pissed off at me for the rest of the year. "Um...well...see, Tori-"

"Actually," I interrupt, standing up beside my chair. "I _am_, thank you very much."

The look on my mother's face could burn out the Sun billions of years faster than it was supposed to burned out. Like...now. "I'm sorry...what?"

"You heard me." I say this in as calm of a manner as I can, even though on the inside, I'm shaking more than a car does on an insanely bumpy road. "I'm pursuing my dream of being on Broadway and showing my talent to the world. And _nothing _you do is going to stop me."

My mom stares at me in disbelief for another minute before glaring at my dad, who gulps. He never likes when she confronts him. "Robert, were you aware of this?"

"Yes, he was," I say for him, now placing my hands on the table and leaning in so that my face is inches away from my mother's. "Because _he _actually accepts the fact that I'm talented in a way that doesn't really use the brain. Yes, doctors and scientists are great, but that's because they're passionate about things that _I'm _not."

"It's just such a _waste_," she says under her breath. "You have the skill and everything to-"

"I _also _have the skill to make it in the entertainment business." My voice begins to rise. "Why the hell can't you _understand _that? _Why _are you so against what I love doing? _Why_?"

"Vienna, we do not swear in this-"

I ignore her, just continuing to yell everything that's been bottled up inside of me for all these years, all of the hurt feelings, the pressure laid on me, and everything else that made me insecure. "_Why_? That's the question I've been asking for my whole _frickin' _life, and I've never gotten an answer. Why don't you like this? Why...don't you love me_?_"

"Vienna." Her voice is sharp. "How _dare _you say something like that? I _do _love you, and-"

"No, you don't." I sniffle, feeling the tears start popping up and into the corners of my eyes. "You _don't _love me, because you don't approve of me. You make it clear every single day that I'm a disappointment to you." She opens her mouth, but I cut her off. "Don't say that's not true, because it _is_. Real parents are _proud _of their children. It doesn't matter whether they're biological, or adopted, or step, or whatever the hell they are. What matters is the fact that they encourage you to do better in what you love doing, no matter _what _it is. Why? Because parents are supposed to love." My voice cracks, and the tears spill over. "They're supposed to love their children. And if they don't?" I let out a final sniffle. "Then they're not _real _parents."

My mother's face is completely blank, void of any expression. My dad, however, has tears at the corners of his eyes that he's trying to hide, and keeps giving my mom these disappointed looks. That clearly proves my point.

Slamming my chair into the table, I run as fast as I can up the stairs and into my bedroom. I sit onto my bed, and before I know it, begin to sob harder than I ever have before. I sob for my ignorant mother, for my father that doesn't know what to do, for any of my friends that are so uncertain, for Adyson, who doesn't have her best friend next to her for this time of her life, for Buford, who probably didn't even write the damn article, and for anyone else that I've hurt or has hurt me.

But most of all...I sob for myself. I sob for the person that I've let myself become, this washed out, unimportant-feeling girl that's supposed to star as the lead in the school musical in a week and a half, but doesn't put in her all at the rehearsals like she did for previous productions. I sob simply for the fact that I'm the person that I know I am on the inside, but people keep on trying to take that away from me.

Why, is a question I'm asking now. Why is all of this happening at once?

**Next Chapter Preview: How's Gretchen doing in the psychiatric ward? What exactly has been going on?**

* * *

**Well. Clearly, going to college can prove to be quite stressful for everyone in here.**

**And...I'm insanely close to 400 reviews? Oh my God. Are you _kidding _me right now? That's crazy!**


	47. Gretchen's New Life

_**Sunday, May 20, 10:21 AM**_

_**Danville Psychiatric Ward**_

_**Gretchen**_

My roommate, Laurel, walks into the room, groaning and slamming the door shut. I glance up at her from my notebook as she sits down across from me on her bed, pulling her black hair. "I assume your latest meeting with Dr. Kim didn't go well?" I wonder, even though I know exactly what her answer is going to be.

"Hell, no." That was exactly it. She rolls her eyes and takes out one of her many books that she brought along with her since we're not allowed to use the Internet here. Any electronics we use can only be things like music players and video game devices. "I really don't think she _gets_ how hard it is to get over an eating disorder. Seriously, every time I look at food, I want to vomit."

Laurel's been here a few months longer than I have, and she was admitted for both anorexia and bulimia, as well as having some... anger issues. She moved in here with me after I came here since her previous roommate left, and you're not allowed to have a room to yourself, unfortunately. So she came in with me.

It's not like I mind her or anything. We've actually gotten to be pretty good friends with each other and the other teenagers in here, which was really what we _had _to do since we always have group discussions and stuff like that, supposedly to help us 'break out of our shells', so we all have gotten to know each other over time. It's very hard to find any form of privacy here away from the others, except for when we have talks with Dr. Kim, who is the ward's psychiatrist specifically for the teenagers admitted in here. Laurel can't stand her, but then again, she doesn't like people in general.

"I mean, God." She looks at herself in a little mirror she has by her bed before looking away and fiddling with the red and white bed covers. "I _know _I have a freaking problem. I don't need _her _to tell me."

"She's just trying to help," I say, shrugging and closing my notebook, knowing that it'll be my turn to go over in about five minutes since I just checked the time on the overhead clock. We always go at the same time every Sunday or Saturday, depending on who you are.

"Trying to help, my ass." She snorts. "No. She tells me every little thing that's wrong with me, and then somehow expects me to respond by telling her 'what I think she needs me to know'. Um, no, bitch, I'm _not _giving you my whole life story. Sorry to disappoint you."

I sigh, taking a random piece of hair off of my black skirt before standing up. Laurel can never be satisfied, so I figure it's best to just not respond. She would probably prefer that anyway, knowing her.

"Wait a second, I almost forgot," she says. I notice her take a letter off of the bedside table that's between both of our beds, and she tosses it over at me. I catch it and examine the lettering, feeling my stomach lurch. It's Isabella's loopy, perfect cursive writing. I would recognize it anywhere.

"Mail came while you were taking a shower over in the bathrooms after your workout in the gym earlier." She looks at the other letter sitting on the bedside table. "I haven't gotten to opening mine yet. It's from my boyfriend; maybe I should."

"Maybe," I manage to squeak out, still staring at the letter. I don't know what Isabella could possibly have to say after all of this. Maybe 'I told you so'? I just don't have a clue.

"Then I will." She sits up in her bed, grabs the envelope, and starts opening it. "He's the only person on the planet that still gives a crap for me, after all. But yeah. Have fun giving her your life story."

* * *

I've been here at the psych ward since the day after Milly found the plastic knives in the girls' locker room. She had done just as she said she would, calling her dad, who then told my mom. Upon seeing me, my mother had burst into tears and then examined me right after, also gasping at the cuts on my arms. She was stunned by how skinny I was and how unhealthy I looked, how sad and broken down I was, so therefore, I was immediately admitted in here.

Initially, I was supposed to be admitted into rehab for drugs, but since all I had done was smoke, it was agreed between her and my father that I should be put in a mental ward since the depression I had, the cuts, and everything else I had let happen to me was the real reason I was a mess, not the cigarettes.

The first day I had gone to see Dr. Kim, which was the day after I first was admitted, I was surprised as to how relaxed she looked, and how young she was. I was thinking she would be some old, grumpy lady that wanted nothing to do with me, but it was actually the exact opposite. She had, and still has, a bowl of candy on her desk, of which you could just grab whatever out of it, and she wouldn't care. "So, what's your name?" was the very first thing she asked me, grabbing a clipboard.

"Gretchen," I told her quietly. My voice was hoarse, and I didn't want to make it worse. But even then, at the time, I was itching for a cigarette since I hadn't had one in nearly two days. I was about to go insane.

"And how old are you?" She made a point of looking straight at me as soon as she finished writing.

"Seventeen. I'll be eighteen in August."

"Good to know." She nodded, setting the clipboard on the desk. "All right. So, to start off, I just want you to tell me one thing. Anything, really. Whatever you're comfortable with sharing."

I frowned, stroking one of my longer pieces of newly-dyed brown hair. I, thankfully, was allowed to redye it back to its original color. I was getting a little sick of the rainbow. "Anything? But...shouldn't I tell you how it all started?"

"You don't have to." She shrugged. "Again, this isn't confession time. What this is is to help you crack open that barrier you've made around yourself for the longest time and just...let yourself out, if that makes sense. Talk about one thing that made you become the way you became."

I nodded slowly, thinking a little about what to say. She was sitting there, leaning a little forward in her chair, obviously anticipating me pouring out all of my struggles in life that led me to who I was. "Hmm. Have you ever had a best friend turn completely against you, but they don't even know it?"

She blinked, twice, obviously surprised. "Well..." She hesitated, but still kept her gaze fixated on me, me with my all-black wardrobe and too much makeup. "The first part, yes, back in grade school. I can't say that for the second part, however. Why?"

"Because that's exactly what happened to me," I told her. "Although, Isabella was a _little_ more than clueless."

* * *

The first time one of my friends came to visit me on a visitors' day, which is every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, it was Milly. When I came out to see her in the very large lobby-like area, she was sitting down on the couch next to some older guy, twirling her hair around on one finger and looking nervous. One of the guys, who was there with who I assumed was a friend of his, kept looking at her in weird ways. She pretended not to notice as she glanced up and saw me standing in front of her.

"Hi," was all she said. I noticed her swallow. "Listen, I understand if you're mad at me-"

"Why the hell would I be mad at you?" I said, dumbfounded.

She looked surprised. The panic in her dark blue eyes was starting to fade away as she stared at me. "Well...I didn't know if you were mad at me for practically making you come here. I know you were horrified by the idea, and all...gosh. It's my fault, I'm sorry."

"God, Milly, you don't need to apologize." I shake my head. "No one except for you knew what I was going through. Others _did _know, but you were the only one that truly realized how serious it was."

She sat there, taking in what I just told her. "But-"

"Let's not talk about why I'm here, okay?" I said. When she glanced at me, I added, "I mean, I'm always doing that in here, anyway, and it gets so damn annoying. Can we just talk about something else? You didn't come here for no reason, after all."

She exhaled. "Okay...but what do you want to talk about?"

"Your friends. College. Phineas and Ferb's inventions. God, I don't know. Whatever you want."

She raised her eyebrows. "Anything?"

"Anything at all." I felt myself smile. "Friends tell each other everything."

Ever since then, more of the people in our group, as well as my family, of course, have come to visit me. Some blamed themselves for what happened to me, while others just talked to me as if it hadn't been nearly a year since they last saw me, like I had never lived in those dirty old bleachers in the school gym. Phineas was one of those people, just smiling with me and showing me pictures of what they had done. All Ferb had done was just said a sentence once in a while, but I knew he was glad to see me. I could see it in his smile. Besides Milly, they were the friends of mine who came the most often.

Some people in our group didn't come at all. For instance, I never saw Ginger, not like I would have wanted to, anyway, but I _did _see Baljeet, once, which had surprised me. He had come with Django, and both had just casually chatted with me and got a little bit of the background information. Baljeet and I talked nerdy stuff, and during this, I noticed that Django looked increasingly tired, but I decided not to ask why. Milly, after all, had given me all of the details about his problems with the others lately.

A lot of my friends came to see me at least once, after being sure that one of my family members wasn't coming. I always looked forward to when Aubrey would come, because she was always hilarious. Holly came with her both times that she came over, since they had talked their problems out and had become friends again, at least for the time being, and laughed the entire time.

Whenever Milly would come, she would occasionally bring Katie and Savannah over, too. Since Katie's a sensitive person and Savannah just hates any kind of hospital for reasons she refuses to say, it took them a while to really adjust to the environment. Once they did, though, all was well. Savannah constantly made sarcastic remarks about different people in the hospital, and each one was more hilarious than the last. And Katie was just so nice about all of it. She, as well as Savannah, were part of the few rare ones who didn't ever blame themselves for the mess I'd let myself become.

Continuing on to who has never come, the only guys who haven't are Buford and Irving. Adyson hasn't been here even though she _is _my friend; Milly just told me that she's trying to avoid public places that aren't school just to avoid getting weird looks all the time, not that I can blame her. Vienna hasn't come, which doesn't surprise me since she treated me like crap the last time she saw me. Lilly's never been here, either, but we've never been friends, so I honestly don't care. What surprises me, however, is that Isabella or Emily haven't come to see me.

One would think that _they _would be the ones that were all apologetic to me and would never shut the hell up about being sorry when I know they wouldn't truly mean it. That is, if Emily even knows everything. I don't know if Isabella told her or not. But that's why I'm so petrified to open the letter Isabella sent to me. What's _in_ it? And most of all...if she really wanted to talk to me about what happened between us, why couldn't she just do it face to face? Why can't I just open the letter to find out?

* * *

"I have no idea, Gretchen," Dr. Kim tells me now in reply to those questions as I lick my pink lemonade flavored lollipop, my favorite flavor. "Tell _me _why you're afraid to open that letter you're holding. What exactly are you afraid of?"

"I have no idea," I inform her truthfully. "Maybe...that she'll say the same thing almost everyone else I know has said: That it's all her fault. But I don't even know if she would be saying the truth if she apologized for something that _wasn't _her fault. Was she the one who first started rolling the snowball that went down my hill of catastrophes? Yes, but the way I dealt with it was _my _fault."

She considers this, glancing down at her fingernails.

"It wouldn't help me, that's all." I shrug. "I'm still getting over my cigarette phase, and I still have to take those anti-depressant pills. I don't need something else to weigh down on my shoulders, to...pressure me into changing back to who I was."

"And how exactly is that a bad thing?"

"It just _is_," I groan. "I'll never again be the attentive, studious girl that I was. Never. Too much has happened, okay? It doesn't help me when people tell me that I need to revert back to her, because guess what? It's not going to happen."

"Gretchen," says quietly. She adjusts her seat a bit, but still looks at me. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, Isabella's trying to be your friend, again? Remember, if you play the victim to her actions, then yes, she is going to be apologetic. That is exactly what you're doing."

I keep quiet.

"Read the letter, Gretchen." She stands up, and I glance over at the clock. It's the employees' lunch break. This is always at an insanely early time so that we can do all of our activities in the afternoon. "Read the letter in here, and then go back to your room and think about what Isabella tells you. It could be important; it could not. There's no way of judging it." With that, she exits the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Hesitantly, I glance down at the envelope in my hand, and then over at a trash can. I'm tempted to just throw the damn thing out and not even think about it again. But then my best instincts come to me, and I look down at the letter again. My name and the address of the psych ward are written on the front in purple pen, what Isabella always uses when she writes something. I take a deep breath, and before I can acknowledge it, I've ripped open the envelope, pulled the letter out, and started to read.

_Gretchen,_

_You have no idea how many times I started to write this message to you in the past month, only to crumple it up and throw it away. I was about to give up before just deciding to go with whatever I end up writing, no matter how dumb it sounds._

_I just want to make it very clear; I'm sorry you're going through this. I'm sorry that I very likely was the one who initiated it, though I'm not blaming what happened to you on myself. A better way of saying it would be that I regret being such a horrible friend to you, both in the past and the time we last spoke, in the computer lab. Every day since then, I've cursed myself for not opening my eyes and seeing the monster that kept punching and kicking at you until it was almost too late. Thank God Milly noticed, right?_

_I wasn't sure if you wanted me to, but I've told Emily everything you told me. She's been a mess since then; you don't even want to know. She wanted to apologize, as well, but I told her it wasn't necessary. I knew that you wouldn't want her to blame herself. It was all on me, either way. You can deny it all you want, but it's true._

_I know that you're probably upset over me writing to you. You probably don't even care; heck, this could end up in the trash can. But I have to ask you something. Do you remember when we were Fireside Girls, the day that I officially appointed you second-in-command? Oh my God, you were so happy to 'receive such a distinguished honor'. I remember that smile that was on your face like it happened yesterday. I miss that smile, Gretchen._

_I'm not expecting you to write back. However...expect me to come and see you eventually. I want to actually have a real conversation with you, not like the one we had in the computer lab. I want us to start over and possibly be friends again. I honestly miss being your friend. Not just your friend, but...your best friend. Since I messed it up, I want to be the one to repair it. If that's okay with you, of course. Always remember that you have many people that support you now and will help you become who YOU want to be._

_Isabella_

**Next Chapter Preview: Graduation! There will be no specific point of view since storylines will constantly keep shifting, but something both very insane **_**and **_**unexpected happens.**

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**So, Gretchen's doing all right at the psych ward, overall, but she's still at some tension with Isabella. Or...maybe that letter ended up helping. Don't worry, we'll find out soon.**

**Oh, and just so you know, there's only three chapters left after this. THREE! **


	48. What Happens Before Graduation

**All right...this chapter could get a LITTLE confusing, but that's because storylines are constantly being changed. So...try not to get confused.**

* * *

_**Thursday, May 31, 6:34 PM**_

_**Some Indoor Setting in Danville with Ten Billion Seats/ Any Other Setting that Just So Happens to Appear**_

"This isn't _working_," Phineas moaned in front of the mirror. He again attempted to fit his cap onto his head, but it only ended up teetering and falling down once again on the floor. He sighed, trying not to lose his patience. He had been at this for over ten minutes, now. He turned to his brother, who was using a bit too much gel on his hair. "Ferb? Can you help me get this hat on?"

"It's a cap, Phineas," Ferb calmly replied, picking the cap up off of the floor and dusting it off with his free hand that wasn't covered in gel. "A mortarboard and a tassle on it, as well. They were common in twelfth and thirteenth century England, but are now typically only used for ceremonies like this one." That said, he flipped the hat over and placed it onto his brother's head.

Phineas looked at himself in the mirror, blinking several times. "Oh." He then smiled. "Thanks."

Ferb simply nodded, going back to doing his own hair. Phineas didn't understand why he was doing this, since most of it was going to be covered up, anyway, but he said nothing about it. _The girls probably have it worse, _he thought.

* * *

"Honest to _God_," Savannah moaned as she watched her friend, and sort-of friend, test different kinds of makeup on the backs of their hands. She rolled her eyes. "You guys are being so _dumb_."

"Dumb?" Lilly asked her as she held a curling wand to her hair. "Or, unlike you, are we wanting to look good?"

"It's dark out," Savannah pointed out as a tube of mascara fell to the floor, Katie rushing to pick it up. "No one will see you even if they _wanted_ to."

"It's _inside_, genius," Lilly snapped, releasing the curl and starting another one. She glared at her through the mirror, as Savannah was right behind her, and she saw no need to turn around. "If no one wants to see somebody, it'll be you, not me."

"That's enough fighting," Katie advised the two. She frowned into the mirror. Her eyes had two different styles on each side. "Hmm. Do I want a cat eye, or smoky eye?"

"Cat eye," Lilly informed her without even looking. She set the curling iron down and picked up a hairspray bottle. "You have green eyes, so it'll be hard to pull off smoky. Use brown shadow, NOT green. You'll look like you're sick."

"Oh my God," Savannah groaned. She was sitting on the edge of Katie's bed, gown on, and she was wondering why in the world she thought it was a good idea to come over in the first place. Come to think of it...she was wondering why she was even bothering to go to graduation. It wasn't like it mattered or anything. She wasn't even going to college.

* * *

Ginger bit her lip as she was fake-smiling for the picture her sister Stacy was taking for her. The last thing she wanted to do was to go to graduation, A.K.A. the place where _everyone _was going to be. All of the people she had hurt...all of the people she had hated because of her jealousy...she didn't even want to see her boyfriend. She knew he was disappointed in her; he _had _to be after all she had done. And she didn't blame him. She didn't blame him at all.

Stacy frowned at the camera lens. "Geez, Ginger, you don't look like you're happy at all." She studied her younger sister's facial expression. "Is it the shoes? I bet it's the shoes."

"It's not the shoes," Ginger grouchily said. Even _she _didn't like shoes as much as her sister did.

"Well..." Stacy hesitated. She hadn't really talked to her sister in a while since she'd been away, so she wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to talk to her. Maybe she was having problems with Baljeet. "What's wrong, then?"

"Nothing." Ginger rolled her eyes, which weren't as carefully made up as they normally were. It was obvious that they had been done in a rush. "Can we just go, please? Mom's waiting for us out in the car."

* * *

"Is there a _reason _why we came here so damn early?" Holly mumbled under her breath as she and her parents, along with her older sister, walked into the lobby of the place that the ceremony was being held in. "It doesn't start for another _hour_."

"I want good seats, Holly," her mother informed her, startling her. Holly hadn't thought that she had been heard. "When Monique graduated, we had the seats in the back. It was horrible."

"No, it wasn't," her husband said indignantly. "We were the first ones out in the lobby to get the snacks afterwards!"

"That _was _pretty awesome," Holly's twenty-one year old sister agreed. "You were able to get a piece of cake with a ton of frosting on it. What's better than that?"

"_Exactly_."

Mrs. Walker rolled her eyes, but the expression on her face changed when she saw someone right ahead of them. She smiled, knowing that her daughter had been anxious to see this girl since they had finally made up just several weeks before. "Hey, Holly," she whispered, pointing straight ahead. "Aubrey's right over there."

Holly looked over to see her best friend/someday-when-it's-the-right-time girlfriend standing by her mother, looking ill at ease, and her face immediately brightened up. "Can I go talk to her?" she asked her parents eagerly. She didn't even wait for their responses, knowing that they would say yes, walking as fast as she could over to Aubrey.

* * *

"I can't wait to see everybody," Isabella said excitedly in the front seat of the Garcia-Shapiro's minivan. She was literally bouncing up and down in her seat like a little kid. "It's our _last day _of being in high school! It's so awesome!" She squealed. "Oh my _God_, I'm so excited!"

"It would be _so awesome _if you shut up," Adyson snapped from the back seat. She took a deep breath, holding her stomach. "You know how nauseous I get during car rides, now. Not to mention that I'm getting a _severe _headache from listening to you squeal louder than a pig being murdered."

Isabella stopped bouncing, looking behind to give her friend a guilty look. "Oh. Right. Sorry."

"It's fine." The way Adyson said it, however, didn't mean it was fine at all. She took another deep breath. "I'm just...not feeling the way I should."

Vivian Garcia-Shapiro glanced up into the mirror that looked at the backseat. She saw Adyson and how pale her complexion was, and her brows furrowed. "Adyson, are you sure you are alright?" she wondered. "Because if you are sick, Isabella's father can take you back when he comes from work-"

"No way," Adyson interrupted. "I haven't been in school for thirteen frickin' years for nothing. I'm graduating."

Vivian hesitated. "Are you sure-"

"Yeah." Another kick, and Adyson did her best not to wince. "I'm sure."

* * *

"I have to say, Buford, that I am quite surprised," Baljeet informed his frenemy as they both walked into the lobby of the building. Their parents were standing several feet behind them, just chatting amongst themselves, so the two had gone off on their own. "I did not think you would make it this far in your academics."

"What makes ya think that?" Buford muttered quietly. It was obvious that he was doing his best to avoid Vienna, who was nowhere near him. She, in fact, was chatting with Holly, Aubrey, and Milly about twenty feet away.

"I do not know." Baljeet clearly was oblivious to Buford acting so strangely. He shrugged. "You just do not care about it, that is all. You never have. Yet, you made it this far."

"What's that supposed ta-" Buford began indignantly, but was interrupted by Phineas and Ferb running over to them. Ferb's eyes were wider than usual, but Phineas' remained the same.

"Hey, guys," Phineas said, panting slightly. He held up his pointer finger as he caught his breath. "Have either of you seen Isabella?"

"Or Emily?" Ferb added.

"Right." Phineas nodded. "Ferb wants to talk to her. For some reason, Emily's been avoiding him, and he can't figure out why. However, he thinks that it _might _have to do with him accidentally hanging up on a phone conversation when she was telling him about-"

It was at this time when Ferb clamped his hand over Phineas' mouth. His expression remained the same as always, blank, but Phineas realized just from the hand clamping that he had said too much. "Sorry," Phineas said apologetically after removing his brother's hand. He then looked at Baljeet and Buford, who both now looked confused. "Seriously though, have you seen either of them?"

* * *

"I _don't _want to see him," Emily said coldly. She was currently on the phone with Isabella, who had just arrived. Emily was still in the car, and she shivered. Why was it cold when in mere hours, it would be _June_? "Why the bloody heck would he hang up on me like that?"

"How long ago did it happen?" Isabella inquired.

"Like...I don't know." Emily shrugged, reaching up to fix her cap since she had nothing better to do. "Maybe...a month ago?"

"And you _still _haven't talked to him about it?" Isabella groaned. "Gosh. You're not usually the one to drag out drama like this. That very often goes to Lilly, or to Ginger." She paused. "Wait. Speaking of Ginger, she's beckoning me over here. I have to go, Em. See you soon."

"Wait-" Emily began, but she was cut off by the annoying sound of the _click _of her best friend's phone when it snapped shut.

* * *

"_Django_!"

He heard his cousin yelling out his name, and he yelped, turning around to see her in her wheelchair, hair curled and more makeup on than usual. And that was saying something. He also noticed that she looked a nervous wreck.

"What's the matter?" he wondered, not being able to help but look at Adyson, who was just now walking into the door. She...was quite large, to put it in nicer terms. He sighed at the sight of her, but made sure to put his attention back on his cousin.

She beckoned him closer, and he obliged. "It's Darren," she whispered, nodding her head over at the other side of the room. Django looked over to see her former tutor just kind of awkwardly standing by the snack table with two people that he assumed had to be his parents. They were chatting with some other kid's parents, and Darren looked as if he wanted to disappear.

Django nodded slowly. Lilly had told him, while crying, over the phone about the kissing story and how Darren had misunderstood her feelings. "So...what?" he asked her, not knowing what else to say.

Lilly bit her lip, also touching it at the same time. "So...I've decided that sometime tonight, I'm going to tell him about my feelings. Somehow."

Django grinned. "That's great! But...how are you going to do that? I mean..." He gestured to her chair, and she sighed loudly.

"_That _is the question that I don't know if I'll ever have the answer to."

* * *

Katie grinned at her best male friend, hugging him tightly. "Hey, Drew," she greeted him. For some reason, she felt her heart stop a little when she saw him in his gown, but she shook it off. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." He shrugged, looking over at the doors that would soon open for everyone to go in so the actual ceremony could finally start. "Just talking to you."

She laughed, and he did the same. "Well, I'm glad to hear that," she said in a teasing tone. She then looked around. "Hey...have you seen Phineas anywhere?"

Drew grit his teeth, but he did his best not to let that show. Not that she would notice, anyway. She never noticed anything he tried to do, or whenever he indirectly tried to convince her that while Phineas was a great guy, he wasn't the right one for her. "No..." he lied, scratching his head.

Katie shrugged in her usual carefree style. "Oh well, that's okay. I have no problem hanging out with you, anyway." She grinned.

He flushed, but grinned back, being sure to avoid her eyes while doing so. Those beautiful green eyes...

* * *

Vienna, who had abandoned her parents at the entrance just like everyone else, was now making her way through the crowd to one of the empty spaces by the wall. She was feeling quite overwhelmed, since she had just come back from the musical hours before, and needed a place to rest for a while. The ceremony wasn't starting for another half an hour.

Finally squirming through two more people, she made her way over to the wall. Figuring that it wouldn't be proper to sit (even though she desperately wanted to), she just stood there, watching everyone.

There was Phineas, chatting excitedly with Ferb, Irving, Baljeet, and Isabella. There was Aubrey by the water fountain, looking confused while Holly was clearly trying to explain it to her. She noticed Savannah crossing her arms and just looking pissed off. She saw Milly and Emily talking, the latter having a worried expression on her face. But she couldn't find anyone else. Except...for Ginger, who was now...making her way over to her?

Vienna furrowed her brows as Ginger, gasping, shoved a person out of the way. "V...I...have to...tell you something..." she wheezed, blinking repeatedly and fanning herself so that her makeup wouldn't be smeared from the sweat. "Buford...he...he..."

"Calm down," Vienna said, now feeling confused. What the hell could _Ginger _possibly have to say to her? And why the hell was she even _talking _to her?

"Look," Ginger said after breathing in deeply. "I've felt guilty...about it for a long time. It was only supposed to be a joke. A freaking _joke_."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Vienna demanded.

"The article," Ginger informed her. She looked away, crossing her arms. "I did it, okay? I admit it. I am a terrible person."

"Wait." Vienna's head began to spin, and she slowly started to crouch down to the floor. Her head couldn't process this information so quickly. It just couldn't. Buford...had told the truth? "W-W-_What?"_

"It was ruining _my _night having the info stuck in my head when I was around all of you people, so I decided to haphazardly tell you like this so that I can go about and actually not feel like a piece of crap all night." Ginger shrugged. "So, yeah. See ya."

With that, she left, leaving V to gape at her from behind.

* * *

"Oh my God, now we're getting _seated_!" Isabella squealed as they started to enter the auditorium. Many seats lined up on the floor and up on higher levels, in which the higher levels would be, obviously, for the teachers and administrators and the floor for students and their families. "This is _so _cool!" She grabbed Phineas' arm. "Isn't this _so _cool?"

"_Someone_ had too many energy drinks today," Lilly muttered to herself as she wheeled over to the handicapped section right by the doors, which wasn't _very _far away from the other students, but it still pissed her off that she had to be excluded from everyone else. She, after all, was the only handicapped person in the school that was graduating this year.

Sighing, Lilly looked down at her cell phone for the time, and grimaced. Seven-twenty. They weren't even starting for another ten frickin' minutes. How was _that _fair? She glanced over at the doors. She wasn't going to sit there awkwardly for another ten minutes. No way.

After checking to make sure that no one was watching, she started to wheel herself out of the doors, only to end up bumping into something. "Honestly," she muttered, rolling her eyes. She then looked up, and her eyes widened, as well as the person's she had bumped into.

It was Darren.

After just staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity, she pushed the chair into his legs again, making him look at her strangely. She gestured for him to move back, and when he obliged, she moved the chair out into the lobby, motioning with her hand for him to join her. He hesitated, glancing back, but then did as was told.

"Listen," he said as soon as they were out of sight of everyone else, behind a wall. He crossed his arms and glared at Lilly. "I don't need this big explanation of you saying that you're sorry, but that you don't reciprocate the feeling. I just don't give enough of a-"

"Who said I was going to say that?" she quietly asked him. Her heart was pounding.

He looked at her. A confused look was painted on his face. "...What?"

"That time you kissed me..." She hesitated, and then continued. It was taking all of her strength to continue to look into his eyes, but she did. "...was the best moment of my life."

All Darren did was stare at her. A perplexed look was in his eyes. "...What?" he said again. Lilly couldn't help but notice that his face was turning red.

"And..." She swallowed. "I... wouldn't mind having that amazing moment again."

Darren blinked, looking straight ahead of him. People were still filing into the auditorium. However, he didn't seem to care that others were around, because after another moment that was silent, he looked straight into Lilly's eyes again, leaning down while doing so, and before they knew it, their lips had touched for the second time.

And it was even better than the first.

* * *

As the last several people hurried into the auditorium for the last several minutes before the ceremony started, Lilly and Darren included, Adyson sighed heavily, placing her hands on her stomach. Something...didn't feel right. But she didn't want to do anything about it, because Vienna was sitting next to her. The last thing she wanted was to make a scene in front of _anyone_, let alone _her_.

Another _really _hard kick. Adyson couldn't help but let a wince out, and V glanced over. The two hadn't spoken since their heated argument in the cafeteria, but Vienna felt the need to ask what was going on. "Ad? Are you okay?" she wondered.

Adyson took another deep breath. "Yeah...I'm fine..." she lied, knowing that she was anything _but _fine. Yet, she had no clue what was going on. She knew she wasn't due for another couple of weeks, so nothing was supposed to be going on. She looked around for someone she could actually talk to, like Isabella, but she couldn't see her anywhere.

"You sure don't look like it," Vienna told her. She sounded and looked concerned. "Ad, I'm serious. You're _insanely _pale. You're not fine."

"Yes, I am," Adyson snapped. Her eyes widened as she felt something else. This, however...was _not _a kick. In fact...maybe the others hadn't been, either. Maybe...it was contractions? _No, that's ridiculous_, she scolded herself. _You're not in labor. It's too early. _

Vienna noticed the look on her former best friend's face, and then looked down at the ground. Her hand instantly flew up to her mouth, and she gasped quietly. "Oh my God."

"What?" Adyson also looked down at the ground, and she stared at it with horror. She willed the liquid-like stuff to go away, but it didn't. It just sat there. Adyson knew what this meant, that her water had just broken, and so did Vienna. The two stared at each other, and Vienna was the first to speak, and to state the obvious.

"Oh my God," she whispered, her eyes growing wider with every passing second. "You're in labor."

**Next Chapter Preview: Will be in a similar format as this chapter, with the constantly changing storylines, but will continuously go back to Adyson's.**

* * *

**So...lots of things were revealed in here. Some for the best, some...not for the best, for the situations that they're in. Next chapter is a **_**To Be Continued **_**chapter, if you want to put it in that way.**


	49. What Happens AFTER Graduation

**This is by **_**far **_**the longest chapter yet...so if you can't read it all at once, I'm cool with it. Make sure you're not busy before reading. XD This is the chapter that will truly wrap everything up. Well...**_**almost **_**everything.**

* * *

_**The Auditorium, 7:26 PM**_

"Oh my God." Adyson swallowed, trying to prevent her nerves from getting the best of her, but she couldn't. She couldn't stop staring at the puddle that was on the floor, the puddle that wasn't going to disappear no matter how long she stared at it.

Vienna stood up out of her seat. "You need to get an ambulance-" she began, but Adyson stopped her.

"Hell, no. I'm not getting into one of those." She took another deep breath, pretending to ignore the wide-eyed stares of everyone around her. "If you put me into an ambulance, I swear to God, I will _scream_. Just go get an administrator or whoever's presenting and tell him that I'm not going to be here for the ceremony so that he doesn't call my name for the diploma. I'll drive myself to the hospital."

Much to Adyson's dismay, her ex-best friend shook her head. "I'll tell him not to say your name, but as for driving yourself? No way. Are you _insane_? You can't drive when you're in frickin' labor. I'm getting you a ride, and I'm getting one _now_."

"But-" Adyson tried to protest, but Vienna was already in the aisle, searching for Isabella's mother and/or her father. When she spotted them, she ran as fast as she could over to the two and began to explain the situation. Adyson saw them nodding, Vivian looking panicked and Daniel having a more calm expression on his face.

He stood up in his chair, and since he wasn't far from Adyson, it didn't take him long to get to her. "Let's go," he whispered to Adyson, glancing up at Isabella, who had turned around in her seat a few rows forward as V had gone up to her and started to talk to her, explaining what was going on for the second time. She looked confused, now, but at the same time, horrified.

Adyson once again pretended to ignore everyone around her as Daniel helped her to stand up and hurry out of the building. It wouldn't be much longer, now, and she knew it.

* * *

"Adyson's in _labor_?" Phineas said in shock after Isabella told him and Ferb. They were sitting only a few seats away from her, so they were the first ones that heard from her. And, to put it simply, neither of them looked like they normally would. Ferb's pupils had grown large, and Phineas just looked panicked in general.

"Yeah," Isabella informed them. She glanced around at the rest of the auditorium. "Vienna knows, too, but I didn't tell her to tell everyone else. Can you do that for me before we have to put our phones away in a few minutes?"

"No problem," Phineas informed her, immediately pulling out his orange cell phone and beginning to text everyone in a group message about it. Ferb just continued to sit there, and Isabella noticed that where he was looking, behind him, wasn't random. He was looking at Emily, who was now pulling out her own cell phone and beginning to read what Isabella could only assume was the message that Phineas had sent to everyone.

Isabella sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. All they had to do was have _one _conversation about the phone call and clear it up. They were two of the least dramatic people in the group. So why were they suddenly _becoming _dramatic? It made no sense whatsoever.

* * *

Vienna was glad to be able to sit back down in her seat. Her head was starting to spin out of control from everything that had happened in the past half hour. Her former best friend going into labor in what could only be the worst time, and finding out that her ex was innocent of the crime she thought he had committed? It was too much. _Way _too much.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. Startled, she turned around to see Savannah, looking bored out of her mind, yet, still concerned. "Yo," she said monotonously. She yawned. "Is Adyson okay?"

"Hopefully." Vienna shrugged. "I mean...hopefully, everything goes well."

"Yeah." Savannah glanced across the the auditorium. She could see that the news of Adyson being in labor was spreading faster than peanut butter on bread, and she rolled her eyes. These things were so dumb. Why couldn't they just send the diplomas in the _mail_? It'd be a hell of a lot more convenient for the school financially, _and _she wouldn't have to talk to people or see any people. Everyone would win.

And Savannah did not win things very often.

* * *

Holly was stunned by the text message Phineas had sent. Frankly, who _wouldn't _be? She looked over at Buford, who was a few seats over because their surnames were only one letter apart. She could see that he had received the news, too, because he was holding his phone, and his eyes were wide.

She sighed, turning off her phone and carefully placing it in the pocket of her gown. She hadn't given it a lot of thought recently, but she still couldn't believe how selfish she had been when anonymously informing the school about Adyson's pregnancy just to try and make the blame go on Irving so that Aubrey would come back to her. Never once had she spoken to Adyson about the matter, and not until Irving had accused her of it, and been right, had she felt guilty.

_It wasn't like the whole school wouldn't have found out, anyway, _she told herself as the principal went up onto the stage to begin his little speech he would give before starting to hand out the diplomas, before the valedictorian, who just so happened to be Ferb, would simply give an online presentation so he wouldn't have to talk, and the saluatorian, Isabella, would give her own speech. _It was obvious, anyway, when she started to show. You don't have to be upset with yourself._

Yet...she was.

* * *

_**After the ceremony**_

As soon as Isabella had finished her speech and everyone had tossed their caps into the air and went back into the lobby to 'celebrate', no one was talking about the after-party that would happen in another location that everyone else in the school was going to. No. Instead, all had gone to pure hell within the group, all of whom were gathered a few feet away from the snack table, which was now being disassembled. Before long, only those in the group and their families, all of whom looking confused, were in the lobby.

"What the _hell _is going on?"

"I heard that something happened with Adyson, but my phone was off. What happened?"

"Oh my God, there's free donuts!"

"_No_, Mom, everything's _fine_. Geez. Calm down."

"What time is it? That was so _long_."

"What's going _on_?"

"QUIET!" someone finally bellowed, and everyone froze. They all turned towards the entrance to the auditorium to see Buford, hands on his hips and glaring at every single person. "One person's gotta speak at a time, or else, _nobody's _gonna hear ya! So _shut up_ until it's _yer _turn! God! It's not _hard_!"

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing who should speak first. Some had fearful looks on their faces. Finally, Vienna cleared her throat, stepping out of the crowd. "All right. Whoever's asking what's going on, it's that Adyson, our friend, or, uh, _acquaintance_, for some of us, is in the process of giving birth."

Some nodded, while others raised their eyebrows. Beppo Brown looked down at his son, knowing that _he _had to be concerned even though the two had broken up quite a while ago. He knew his son would never admit it, but he knew that Django still had feelings for Adyson. "Did you know about this?"

Django shook his head slowly, his face ashen. "I left my phone at home so I wouldn't get distracted," he informed his father. He was blinking repeatedly, trying not to faint. His ex-girlfriend was in labor. He knew it was going to happen soon, but now that it had, it whammed him over more than a train would if he were alone on the track.

Vienna sighed, purposely avoiding Django's gaze. "So, as you all know..._someone's _got to go see her. Isabella and her family have already left, but I have the feeling that Adyson's going to want more people there."

"Are you suggesting that we should _all _go?" Lilly wondered. Next to her was some guy with wavy brown hair that Vienna had never seen before, but V decided not to dwell on it. "Because, well...it _does _have a pretty big lobby...and it's not like we have anything better to do."

"Sleep," Baljeet muttered, but nobody heard him.

"I can't be in a hospital," Milly's stepmother Anneliese announced. "I had to give birth to my daughter at home, because I've always had a fear of them."

"Parents wouldn't have to come," Lilly informed her, and a majority of the adult population nodded their heads in agreement, save a few. She looked at Vienna. "So...is that what you were suggesting?"

V hesitated. "Well...there's sixteen of us kids, one of them already at the hospital with Adyson. It'd be a lot...but yeah, it would be a good idea. We couldn't all see her at the same time, though. Only a few would be able to at once."

"I don't mind the idea," Katie said, shrugging. She turned to someone to her left, also someone V didn't know personally, but he _was _in her English class. "You okay with coming along, Drew? Someone needs to actually drive me there. My mom and sister just assumed I would be going to the after-party like everyone else, so they left me here."

"Yeah, sure." Drew took a deep breath. He was about to be alone with Katie Marquette, his best friend for more than a dozen years and his crush for three. He. Was about to be alone. With her.

* * *

"Oh my frickin' yellow penguins!" Adyson cried, holding on the bars on the sides of her bed as another contraction came through. She gave out a shuddery breath as Vivian held a washcloth to her head. Daniel stood beside her, looking unsure of himself, and Isabella was using the restroom. "How long does this _last_?"

Vivian shrugged. "With Isabella, from the time I was zero centimeters dilated to ten...about...twenty-one hours," she informed her with a sheepish expression, and Adyson's jaw dropped. "But you do not know how far along you are, and you are so young, so..." She trailed off.

Adyson stared at her with horror. _"What?"_

* * *

Never had there been a more silent car ride. Ever.

Ferb had offered to take Emily alone in his own car, have it be just the two of them, so that they could have a conversation. She had refused, wanting to go with Phineas, their parents, and their sister, but after persisting, she had given in since her own parents had left after the ceremony after talking with her/congratulating her, and she had no other ride.

Ferb was the first one to break the silence. "Emily, you know I didn't mean to hang up on you that one time," he quietly told her. "It was a mistake, and a complete misunderstanding."

"Do I?" she coldly asked him. "_Do _I really know that?"

Ferb bit his lip. He and Emily had never had an argument before when they were just friends, let alone when they were together as a couple. This was really strange for him, not to mention awkward. "Why are you _acting _like this?" he asked her, keeping his eyes on the road. "I've apologized to you countless times, when I really _shouldn't _be, since, as I've told you, it wasn't my fault in the first place, yet, you still treat me like I'm a pigeon you're being forced to kiss on the mouth."

Emily exhaled. "I don't know, I just..." She looked down at her arms, which were crossed in front of her chest. She, as well as everyone else, still had their gowns on. "It took me a lot of courage to be able to give you that information, and when that abrupt ending happened...it hurt. A lot."

"Well...what if I told you what I was _going _to tell you before the phone did what it did?" Ferb asked her. Before she could respond, he pulled over onto the side of the road, turned off the car, and grabbed her hands. Her hands were warm on his palms. As she stared down into them, he continued to quietly speak with her in a serious tone. "I was _going _to say that no matter where you go, whatever country you live in, it doesn't matter. You're still as important to me with you there as you would be sitting next to me."

Emily looked up and into her boyfriend's eyes. She blinked. "Are...you serious?"

He nodded, the smile he only showed to her beginning to show up on his lips. "Very." He rubbed her palm. "You're aware of the fact that I'm in love with you, right?"

Emily couldn't help but smile, now looking down, as she was beginning to flush. And flush with happiness. "Of course I am."

"So..." He gave her his best pleading look, one complete with the raising of his eyebrows, a look Emily loved. "Are we forgiven?"

The smile his girlfriend gave him told him the answer.

* * *

_"Over the river, and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go!"_

_"Dad," _Vienna groaned, resisting the urge to cover her ears and scream. From the look of her mother's face in the front seat, it was obvious that she felt exactly the same way. "Please, I beg of you. Stop singing that stupid song."

Robert Thompson glanced up into the mirror to see his daughter giving him an irritated look. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, and didn't respond with words, just an imperceptible nod. All he had been trying to do was relieve some of the tension that had been occuring on the drive to the hospital that was between Tori and Vienna. Neither had spoken to the other since their very heated argument at the dinner table a little while back, and it was driving him crazy.

He glanced over at Tori. He couldn't understand _why _she just couldn't say why she had such a dislike for the performing arts. Although...maybe _he _had to bring it up. Somehow...by dragging Vienna into it. "By the way, V," he said, breaking the silence and making his daughter's head pop up from looking down at her cell phone. "_Great _performance at the show today. You were great."

He saw Tori stiffen next to him, but he ignored it, just smiling at Vienna. She simply just blinked, also smiling. "Thanks, Dad."

"You're very welcome, hon." He looked over at Tori. "And your mother thought you were great, as well."

Tori gave him a baffled look. "What-"

"In fact," he interrupted, still looking up into the mirror to see his daughter's facial expression contort into downright confusion. "She said that it reminded her of the time _she _played that same role in college. The same role...that got me to fall in love with her."

Both Vienna and Tori's mouths dropped. The latter mouthed, _Stop_, and Vienna gasped quietly. "W-What...?" she stammered. She leaned across the seat to look at her mom, whose eyes were wide. "Mom...is he serious?"

"I...um...uh..."

_"Mom." _

Tori sighed, looking now at her husband, who nodded. _It's time_, he mouthed to her. _She deserves to know_.

"You're right," she said out loud, surprising him. She looked down at her hands, biting her lip. "V...I've thought long and hard about the way you yelled at me a few weeks ago. _Very _long and hard."

"...You have?" Vienna asked her after a moment's hesitation.

"Yes." Tori nodded. "And...you're right. I _have _been horrible to you about all of this. But...there's a reason." She sighed. "I don't know how good of a reason it is, but...it's a reason. And I've failed to tell you all of these years because...I didn't want to scare you."

"Scare me?" V couldn't believe what she was hearing. Never had she heard her mother admit that she was wrong about something. Ever.

"Yes..." Tori swallowed, and Robert reached over to grab her hand. "See...when I was your age, I went to a high school specifically meant for those who wanted to be in the performing arts, since I was discovered at a talent show or something like that that I substituted for my sister for." She saw Vienna give her a quizzical look. "...It's a very long story. But anyway, when I got into the school that my sister was in first, even though she had no talent, but that's _also _a long story, I was the star of everything. Of all the plays, of the musicals, of the talent shows. I got all of the solos in class. I hadn't known it, but...it was what I had always wanted. To be the center of attention." She chuckled. "Just like you. And the same stuff happened in college, _also _for performing arts."

Vienna took a deep breath. This was even _more _stuff for her to take in. "Wow. But...what happened?"

Tori sighed. This was the part she had been afraid of telling for more than eighteen years, and she now finally had to say it. "Well...right when I graduated college, several glands were found in my throat by a doctor when I got a checkup. And...they were rather large. So when they cut them out...my singing voice went with it." Vienna gasped, and she continued. "That's why my voice can get scratchy at random times, and...that's why I didn't want to tell you about it. I didn't want _you _to have to possibly suffer the way I did. That's why I tried to keep you away from anything musical or anything to do with acting. But, alas...that did not happen."

"My God," Vienna whispered. She shook her head. "I'm so sorry..."

"Don't be." Tori shrugged. "It's just the way life worked out for me." She glanced back behind her to see her daughter, who looked very nearly at the point of tears. "_I _should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have been so cruel to you about the subject for all of these years. All it did was hurt both of us in the process." After hesitating, she added, "...I _do _think you're talented, Vienna. You bring me to tears every time I hear you, and you have no idea how hard it was to hide that."

Vienna found herself smiling more than she had in a very long time. "Really?"

"Really." Tori smiled back, and from the driver's seat, Robert breathed a huge sigh of relief. Finally, there was peace in his home. And it had only taken eighteen years.

* * *

"Oh. My. _God_," Adyson gasped. She breathed in deeply for a second time. "You guys have _no_ idea how _bad _this hurts."

"Nope," Savannah agreed. She and Milly had been the first ones in the group to arrive, so they figured they might as well see Adyson before things got even worse. Isabella's parents were downstairs in the lobby, waiting for anyone else to come, and Isabella herself was standing on the other side of the bed. "Nope, we really don't."

"It hurts so frickin' bad." Adyson groaned and sighed in relief as the contraction went away. They were coming in about every twenty minutes, now, and lasted about one minute each. "Where are the effing _nurses_? Why can't I take any drugs?"

"It's a little too early," Milly quietly informed her. "You can't take drugs until it's a few hours closer to the actual birth. My dad's a doctor, so I know this stuff."

"God_damn_ it," she cursed, and Isabella couldn't help but wince. She knew she couldn't tell Adyson to stop swearing, though, because it wouldn't happen. They weren't even one hour into the labor, yet, and already, things had become exhausting for everyone.

And not _just _those in the hospital.

* * *

"Nice night out," Katie commented, pointing outside of the window while turning her head swiftly to see it. The brightness from the stars reflected from the window onto her blond hair, which had been put into waves for the occasion. Drew couldn't understand this about the girls, them wanting to look different. It was graduation, not a frickin' beauty pageant. However...he still loved how pretty she looked. She always looked pretty, but...she was even prettier at nighttime. He didn't know why...he just knew.

"Yeah," Drew replied. Katie noticed that he was starting to look nervous. She shrugged it off, thinking, _He probably just doesn't like to drive at night. Lots of people don't. _Yet...her heart was pounding, just a little. Why was it pounding the way it used to for Phineas?

Yes. Used to. For a little while, now, Katie had come to terms with the fact that Phineas wasn't into her, and he never would be. She could see how in love he was with Isabella, though he would never say it with those words, exactly, still having that piece of oblivious pie stuck inside of him. So...she had taught herself to get over the inventor, and it had worked. However, while she was able to tell Irving and Lilly about it, she had not been able to tell Drew, who was the only other one who knew about the crush she still had on Phineas. And she didn't know why.

_Why? _She asked herself as her best friend turned right on the intersection that went on for several miles that led to the Danville Hospital. _Why are you so confused when it comes to things that involve Drew? And what does it even _mean_?_ She thought for a second, her eyes slowly growing wide as she came to the realization. _Wait...am I in love with-_

"Have you been there, before?" Drew said out loud, startling Katie and whipping her out of the strange thoughts that had begun to circle around her head. She mentally slapped herself. How could she possibly be in love with _Drew_? It was the most absurd idea she had ever heard of.

"Um...yeah," she said afer recollecting her thoughts. "When Lilly was there after the car crash, I visited her a couple times. And, I was born there."

"Well, yeah. Half the people in town were." He cleared his throat, feeling a sense of awkwardness start to float up into the air as a wave of silence occured afterwards. Katie felt this exact same sense, and she sighed.

_Please let us get there soon, and not let anything else happen, _she prayed. _I can't take this anymore...this sense of not being able to be the same friend as I've always been to Drew. Things...are too weird all of a sudden. Just help me, somehow. Please._

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Phineas asked Adyson after greeting Isabella with a short, yet affective, hug. Emily was beside Isabella, and Ferb stood beside his brother, one hand on his chin, another around his waist, as he looked at Adyson. His facial expression was the same as always.

"Okay, at least for now," she replied. She reached behind her head to adjust her ponytail that she had put in since she was starting to sweat, and sweat a lot. "Contractions aren't that bad anymore. The doctor just came in a few minutes ago and told me that they would take it easy for a few hours."

"How many centimeters dilated are you?" Isabella asked her, and Emily nodded in agreement. "I didn't hear."

Adyson snorted. "I don't know," she said, rolling her eyes. "I don't know what the hell that even _means_."

Everyone looked at Ferb, who cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "I would rather not give specifics," he informed his brother, his brother's girlfriend, his own girlfriend, and their friend. "You would all be horrified, not to mention disgusted as well."

* * *

"Django, you're awfully quiet back there," Beppo commented to his only son, who was sitting in the back seat and staring out the window at the dark, starry night. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No," he muttered, kicking the ground with his shoe.

"But-"

Alana reached over to grab hold of her husband's shoulder. "Beppo. Leave him alone. He has a lot to think about, here."

Though Django didn't know it, both of his parents knew everything that had been going on in his life, simply because they had overheard him talking to Lilly on the phone just several days before. They knew about his kiss with Vienna after her breakup with Buford, they knew about his friends avoiding him, and they also knew how badly things had become with Adyson, and also between her and Vienna.

Alana leaned over in her seat to whisper into Beppo's ear. "Don't make him talk about Vienna, or Adyson, especially. It'll just make him even more upset than he already is."

"But maybe he'll want to open up with us," Beppo insisted, also whispering as quietly as he could. "Maybe, since he has no one else to turn to besides Lilly, we can help him."

Alana sighed. She knew how stubborn he was being, just like he always was. "He's going to be _nineteen_ in September, Beppo, not eight. He's not going to want to talk to us about every little issue he has going on, if any. It embarrasses him; he's sensitive."

Beppo bit his lip. "Yes, but-"

"You know, you guys aren't being as quiet as you think you are," Django interrupted, and they gave each other sheepish looks. He sighed in irritation, wanting to just get to that damn hospital.

He needed to see Adyson...and he needed to apologize to her. For everything.

* * *

"So...it was _you _who put that information up onto the school website?" Adyson asked Holly, stunned. Aubrey looked over at her best friend, a confused expression on her face.

"Yeah," Holly said quietly, hanging her head and looking away from Adyson. She had explained the entire situation to her, Aubrey in the room, but she didn't care. It had to be told. "It was totally selfish of me, and I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

Holly blinked. "...What?"

"I'm serious." She shrugged. "Everyone would have found out, anyway, and besides, even though I was upset then, it doesn't matter now." Adyson looked down at herself. "I have _so _many more important things to worry about, like..." She gasped, feeling a contraction start to kick in, and Aubrey, Holly, and Isabella(who had just come back into the room)'s eyes widened.

"Are you okay?" Aubrey wondered worriedly, chewing on her pinky nail. She still didn't have a clue as to what was going on. Where was the stork? Why was Adyson in pain?

"Yeah." Adyson took a deep breath, moaning at the same time. "...It wasn't that bad. It was just...there. Nothing to be worried about."

* * *

Having just arrived at the hospital, Vienna walked into the waiting room in the lobby to see Ginger, Baljeet, Lilly, Darren, Ferb, Emily, Phineas, Irving, Milly, Savannah, Holly, and Aubrey, as well as many other people, sitting there. "Oh my God," she exclaimed, and everyone turned towards her. "You all actually _came_?"

"Of course we did," Irving said, like it was no big deal for a bunch of teenagers to be in the lobby of a hospital for one person.

Vienna sighed, glancing around at the crowd. "So...I'm seeing all of you except for Katie, her friend, Django, and Buford." Her heart twisted at the sound of her ex-boyfriend's name coming out of her mouth, but she ignored it. "Have you seen any of them?"

"Drew took Katie somewhere...private, for some reason," Ginger informed her, shrugging. "Don't ask me how I know his name. I have no clue, either."

"Whatever." Vienna turned away. "Django or Buford?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Fine, whatever," she said again. "I'm going up, and I need to apologize to her for being such a bitch to her. Anyone else coming?"

Again, everyone shook their heads.

"Fine with me." With that, she went up after asking what the room number was, not knowing what to expect.

* * *

Darren squeezed Lilly's hand as they both sat in the waiting room, making her flush. This was actually noticeable since she had taken off about ten pounds of her makeup in the bathroom earlier. Both were aware of the occasional glance they would get, but neither cared. They just sat and smiled at each other.

"It's a little strange, I'm not going to lie," Darren informed her, not being able to wipe the smile off of his face. He...the nerdiest nerd in the history of nerds...had a girlfriend; it was official after he asked her. And he had one that actually loved him the way he loved her. Not that he would say that in words. Yet. "But I like it."

"I like it, too," Lilly told him, keeping her tone quiet. She squeezed back, also smiling. "It _is_ weird, but...I don't care."

All of a sudden, she felt her cell phone ring in her pocket. Sighing in irritation, smile wiped off her face, she released Darren's hand, yanking it out of her pocket. "Yes?" she asked the person in as sarcastic of a tone as she could muster.

"Lilly, I have a problem." It was Katie, and she sounded frantic. "A _major _one."

"Oh for God's sake," Lilly snapped, now pissed off at her for ruining her moment. Darren, on the other hand, was amused, covering his mouth. He loved it when Lilly got angry; it was hilarious. "What happened? Did you drop a big ass lollipop onto the ground when you were on a Ferris wheel? Did your pigtails become untied? How could _you _possibly have a 'major problem'?"

"...Drew told me that he likes me. As more than a friend."

* * *

"It's okay, Adyson, it's okay," Vienna said to Adyson as another contraction rolled through, and she tried not to scream. They had had a long conversation before about their argument, and both had agreed that it was pretty stupid. So while they couldn't officially say they were best friends again, they had made up.

"No, it's not," she gasped, holding her stomach. She then glared up at the ceiling. "CURSE YOU, KYLE WITH THE STUPID BLOND HAIR AND THE DRINKS AND-!"

"Don't think about him right now," Isabella commanded on the other side, and Adyson let out a shuddery breath. "Think about getting your child out. Think about what you've been through for nine months, and let it _all _out. You're six centimeters dilated, now, and the nurse should be back at any second-"

"What the hell does that _mean_?" Adyson screamed. "Why won't anyone frickin' _tell _me?"

"They don't feel like it," Vienna responded since she really couldn't come up with a better answer. She released Adyson's hand after her friend breathed a sigh that sounded of relief. "I'm going downstairs for a little bit; I'm kind of hungry. Isabella, you want anything?"

* * *

"Geez, dude," Savannah commented as Django finally burst through the door. His face was red, and he was sweaty. "Had no idea you were driving like snails, were you?"

"No," he panted, running his hands through his damp hair. "No, we did not." He looked at all of his friends. "Where's Adyson?"

Milly told him the room number, and he nodded. "Thank you. I _have _to apologize to her _now_." With that, he was about to run up the stairs, but then saw the elevator. "Yeah...that's a better idea," he said to himself, pressing the _UP _button.

* * *

Django tried to calm his nerves as he approached his ex-girlfriend's hospital room, but it wasn't easy. At all. _I can't do this,_ he thought, and then mentally slapped himself. _Yes, you can. You're considered a man here in the United States, Django Brown. Act like one._

After knocking, he cautiously entered the room, then breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that all who was in there with her was Isabella. Both girls looked up, and Adyson's eyes hardened. "Get the hell out of here."

"No, wait," he said, holding up his hand. He nodded at Isabella, who took that as her cue to get out. She flashed him a small smile before exiting the room. Satisfied, he turned to Adyson, who was glaring at him.

"I don't want to hear it," she informed him in an icy tone. "I really..._really _don't."

"Adyson...just listen to me," he said calmly. He sat down next to her, being sure not to touch her. "What I did to you was wrong. It was a really dumbass thing to do, and I shouldn't have done it."

"Tell me about it," she scoffed, tucking stray pieces from her ponytail behind her ear. "I thought you were good. I thought you _meant_ it when you said you were supportive of me. And when you really weren't...it hurt. It _really _hurt. I mean, I still talk to my brother every now and then, but..." She hesitated. "My mom kicked me out of the house, even though I was raped and tricked into it. You know who I wanted to turn to?" She gasped at another contraction, and then sighed. "...You. But you weren't available. You were...ashamed of me."

Django bit his lip. "I was...back then."

Adyson rolled her eyes. "Look..." She sighed again. "I know you're sorry...I really do. I know that you've thought about it, and now you want to make up for it. I just...don't want to be in a relationship right now, you know?"

"Of course," he assured her, nodding. He knew she would say something like that. "All I want...is to know that I'm forgiven, and that...we can at least be friends." He offered her a sheepish smile. "Is that okay with you?"

Much to his relief, she smiled, very faintly because of her pain, back. "Of course, Django." She surprised him by grabbing his hand. Hers was hot, and possibly the sweatiest hand he had ever touched, but he didn't care. All he cared about was that everything was okay, again. "Of course."

* * *

_**Eight hours later. No, really, it's eight hours later.**_

Everyone, Django included, was now sitting anxiously in the waiting room. It was now past five o'clock, and half of the group had fallen asleep. There was still no sign of Buford, so everyone had assumed that he had just decided not to come.

A few people had left, like Katie, who was so shaken up by Drew that she called her mom to pick her up from the hospital, making Drew have to drive home alone, and Baljeet, who wanted to go home to get his full daily ten hours of sleep (there was no school the next day for the seniors). But everyone else remained, some yawning, some asleep in their chairs, some, like Phineas, still wide awake, only an occasional yawn once in a while.

Django sighed, glancing down at his cell phone for the time. Once Adyson had reached eight centimeters, whatever that meant, the doctor had told everyone that no one could come up to see her. That had been about four hours ago, and now, everyone could only anxiously wait. Only Vienna, Isabella, and Isabella's mom were in the room during the actual delivery. Her father had gone home since he had work the next day.

"Is this really a good idea, us all staying here?" Lilly said now, groggily. "I mean...it's been like, ten hours since her water broke, and these things can last for more than a day-"

"Don't worry," someone said, actually sounding awake. Everyone, at least, everyone who was awake, snapped their heads up to see Vienna, wide grin on her face. "Everything went well. I mean...there was a lot of cursing, and a _lot _of...gross stuff, but-"

"What's the gender?" Emily asked her excitedly, reaching behind her to fix her bow, which had become untangled.

Vienna's grin became even wider. "It's a girl."

**Next Chapter Preview: Last chapter! Adyson comes home from the hospital, finding some surprises for her. Gretchen also returns home from the psych ward, and other problems not yet solved...**_**will **_**be solved.**

* * *

***takes **_**very **_**deep breath* Well...that was a lot. I'm very sorry. But...hey, at least I got it done, right?**


	50. The Baby Shower

**This is also a pretty long chapter, but it's the last one, so...that's an excuse, right?**

* * *

_**Saturday, June 8, 8:58 AM**_

_**Danville Hospital**_

Vienna watched, struggling not to laugh, as Adyson stared at the car seat that was on the hospital bed, instruction manual in hand. She had been attempting to figure out how to actually put someone in the seat, and so far, she had had no luck. "Adyson, are you _sure _you've got this?"

"Quite sure," Adyson snapped. She returned down to glaring at the car seat, fingering one of the buckles and looking at it like she was in a life or death situation and having to figure a complicated puzzle out in order to live. "Though, I will admit...this is a hell of a lot more complicated than I thought it would be."

"Just wait for Isabella to get up here. She, or her mom, will help you put the baby in so you guys can actually, I don't know, get _going_."

"I just feel so pathetic," Adyson said, biting her lip. "I can't even buckle my daughter into a freaking _car_." She sighed. "This really proves how good of a mom I'm going to be, isn't it?"

"It proves that you're still _learning_," Vienna informed her. She sat next to her friend on the bed. "You never meant to be a mother. No one does at our age. But, in this case...it happened." She shrugged. "So, of course you're not going to know how to do the most basic things. You're not _supposed _to."

Adyson turned and saw her friend giving her an encouraging look. "I guess you're right," she sighed. She stood up now, rubbing her eyes and wondering _how _she was going to make it through the rest of the day.

* * *

"What...the hell...are you doing?" Ginger asked in bewilderment as she walked into her boyfriend's bedroom to see him sitting on the ground, surrounded by various school supplies. All of them looked new, but, knowing Baljeet, Ginger knew that he could have had some of these prepared for years. So to see him looking so disorganized was really...strange.

Baljeet looked up, and his face brightened up. "Oh, Ginger," he sighed, raising his hands up in the air. "Thank the _heavens _you are here. I am in what you could say is a bit of a dilemma at the moment."

She raised her eyebrows, sitting down on the floor as close as she could to him. Which...was not very close. "Oh? What _kind _of dilemma?"

"I am running low on school supplies." He took in a very deep breath, and she once again raised an eyebrow, grabbing two of what had to be nearly fifty notebooks off of the top of the large pile that had started to collect dust. She blew it off to try and get it off without using her clothes, but it unfortunately didn't work.

"I beg to differ."

"I am serious," he pleaded as she placed the notebooks back. "Are you _aware _of the notes that are taken in universities? You practically teach _yourself _a majority of the time, which I practically do every year, anyway, but they actually _require _it now!" He continued to ramble as Ginger stood up, rolling her eyes and starting to make her way through the school supplies over to him. He didn't notice this. "I will have to take more notes than _ever, _Ginger, and with a steady amount of notebooks and pencils, I can be easily assured that it will go along without much conflict..."

By now, Ginger had gotten through all of the notebooks and was now a foot away from him.

"...but now, I do not have any compared to the amount I normally have, and with starting to go to Phineas and Ferb's every summer day, I will not have any _time _to go to a stationary store and pick anything up, and this means that-"

Baljeet was interrupted in his monolgue by his girlfriend leaning down and kissing him mid-sentence, thereby making him stop talking, obviously. A few seconds afterwards, they parted, and he blinked. "Well, he said, feeling the heat rise up onto his cheeks as Ginger smirked. "That was a _very _overly-cliched way of doing it, but..." He hesitated, then smiled. "That was a nice way of telling me to keep quiet."

Ginger felt herself smile back as Baljeet placed his arm around her. There they were, surrounded by too many school supplies as they were sharing a romantic moment. She should have thought this was ridiculous, yet, she did not. "I know," she replied, head resting on his shoulder. "That's why I did it."

* * *

"Katie, for crying out loud," Savannah groaned as her friend lay on her back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was still in her pajamas, as well, and she hadn't bothered to eat breakfast, claiming to not be hungry. "It's been more than a week. Get the hell over it and go back to being friends with this guy. It's not hard."

"Uh, yeah, it is," Katie shot back. She groaned, still sitting in the same position. "There's no _way _I can go to dance class tomorrow. I'll be way too mortified to see him. In fact...I'll _always _be too mortified to see him."

"See, this is why love sucks," Savannah proclaimed out loud, and Katie couldn't tell if she was talking to herself or to her, so she kept quiet. "It messes you up, and it makes you feel emotions that you don't _want _to feel. Then, you're miserable and a complete bitch to the person that _was _your friend if it isn't reciprocated and/or it doesn't work out, and then it messes _them_ up, too. Then you're just depressed all of the time."

Katie decided to respond, even if she wasn't supposed to. "Well...sometimes it works out...I guess."

"You're right," Savannah agreed. "It _does_, sometimes. However, in cases like yours...it doesn't."

"But that's the _problem,_" Katie groaned. She finally decided to sit up, but to sit back on her pillows so that she didn't have to put a lot of effort into it. "I...don't know whether I like him or not. It's just...too weird to think of being...his girlfriend." She shook her head. "Yet...I like it, too. I don't know..."

Savannah scoffed. "Well, I don't know why you're talking to _me _about this, first of all, since I'm _never_ getting into this relationship crap. Second of all...I can't decide that for you. It's up to you, really." She pulled the hood of her gray hoodie back up onto her head. "Now...if you'll excuse me, I'm getting out of here. I've had enough of talking about this."

* * *

Candace, who was visiting by herself for the weekend, frowned at the sight of seeing her brothers sitting on their stomachs right under the tree in the backyard, both examining a blueprint. Ferb was pointing to some things on it, and Phineas was nodding and smiling, pulling a pencil out from behind his ear and making a mark on it. Candace hadn't tried to bust them for several months, now...maybe this would be her chance. "Hey," she said as she walked out into the open. "What are you twerps doing?"

"Hey, Candace!" Phineas said in his usual cheerful manner. He spread the blueprint out even wider so that she could see it. "We're currently coming up with ways to make a baby shower even _more _awesome than they usually are!"

"Phineas, neither of you have ever been to a baby shower in your lives," Candace pointed out, rolling her eyes. "Other than mine for Amanda, but that one was lame."

"I wouldn't necessarily say it was lame," Ferb began, speaking slowly as if she couldn't understand him. "Just that it was in need of some drastic improvements that one could have easily done."

"Putting anchovies in a freaking cake is _not _something that could have been easily fixed," she snapped.

"Well, either way," Phineas interjected without realizing. He was still smiling, so Candace had to wonder if he had even been paying attention to what she had been saying. Though, he _was _a pretty happy person in general, so she couldn't tell. "This is still gonna be awesome!"

* * *

Gretchen stared at her house as her mother pulled them up to it, stopping the car once they had reached the driveway since the inside garage was currently being painted. She hadn't seen this house in ten months. Even though she had lived there her whole life...it looked now like a completely foreign object.

"I know this is strange for you," her mother said quietly as she unbuckled her car seat and slid out from the driver's seat, also turning off the radio in the process. "Which is completely understandable."

"It is," was all Gretchen replied with, rubbing the corner of her eye and being careful not to smear her eyeliner, which she still wore a lot of. Yet, she still looked a lot different from the first day that she had stepped into the doors of the psych ward for the first time. Her hair was longer and dyed a darker brown than its natural color, and her clothing wasn't all black; there was some gray, too. Though it wasn't a _drastic _transformation in terms of a physical change, it was enough, at least for her. She knew that she would never go back to being the preppy, studious girl she had been. Too much had changed in practically no time.

"Well," her mother sighed after her eldest had gotten out of the car and they just stood there, staring at the house. "Let's go in."

* * *

"So, how are you and Darren doing?" Django wondered as he sat down at the dining room table. The phone was sitting next to him and was on speaker so that his cousin didn't have to hear him chew his cereal. He really wasn't in the mood to be insulted for eating like a dog.

"Fine," Lilly replied. He could picture her shrugging. "But you already know that. What's the matter with you?"

"What do you mean, what's the matter with me?" he asked indignantly.

"Django." He heard her sigh, as well as something screech, like a chair. "When you call me, it's never just for the hell of it. It means that something else is going on with you, and you don't have the balls to tell _anyone else _what that is, so _I_ have to be the peacemaker."

He closed his eyes in irritation, knowing that it was all true. "Okay, fine. It's Adyson. I don't know where we stand. I'm confused. My cousin is making me sound like a wimp, once again." He glared at the phone, not that Lilly could see it. "Happy?"

"Quite, thanks," she said sarcastically. "So...what's your problem? So Adyson doesn't want a relationship. So what? She's got a hell of a lot more obligations than _you_. No offense."

"None taken," he informed her in a somewhat sarcastic tone. "And...I know that, and I get that. My problem is that I don't know if I'm her friend, or her boyfriend-in-waiting...or what."

"My God," she groaned. "Ask her, dammit. This is real life, not an episode of some stupid teen drama." She paused. "Well...it's not _supposed _to be, anyway. But yeah, just ask her at that baby shower Phineas and Ferb are throwing later. Everyone'll be there. Just talk to her quietly and ask. Bam. You're welcome."

"I appreciate it," Django dryly told her. He hung up before she could reply, glancing down at his cereal, which had gotten soggy. Of course.

* * *

"Mom, can't you see what they're doing?" Candace cried to her mother, who was sitting down in a chair and reading the newspaper. The twenty-three year old attempted to grab her mother's attention, but to no avail. Linda just ignored her. _"Mom._"

"Candace, for crying out loud," Linda groaned, rolling her eyes. "You're out of college. You're married. You have a two-year old daughter. Can't you find a better thing to do around here than to try and bust your brothers?"

"_No_." Her daughter glared at her. "No, I cannot."

While their sister continued to ramble inside to their mother about how she _had _to look outside and see what the boys were doing, Phineas was looking down at the blueprint and frowning. "Ferb, are we going to need two-inch screws or one-and-a-half-inch for these tables?" He held two out, and Ferb lifted up his mask that protected his face against wood chips away to look, pointing at the former. "That's what I thought, too. Thanks, Ferb."

"So...what exactly are you lot making?" Emily, who had arrived minutes before, asked her friend and boyfriend. "I know you're holding a baby shower, and it's just a typical one, only...more awesome-"

"Exactly," Phineas interrupted, grinning. "It's gonna be awesome, but it can't be _too _awesome, because a baby's going to be there. They don't like too much excitement, according to Ferb."

Emily looked at Ferb, who nodded. "Well, that's cool. Anything I can help with?"

"Hmm." Phineas thought for a second. "Do you know how to bake a cake?"

* * *

As they were driving away from the hospital, Isabella and her mom in the two front seats and Adyson and Vienna in the back, the last two and Isabella were looking down at the little bundle in the car seat. She was fast asleep, and had been since the night before. "She sleeps just like you," Isabella teased her, and Adyson rolled her eyes.

"Hardy-har-har."

Until Adyson would be able to afford to have her own place, since she had gotten a part-time job at a local bookstore, she would be continuing to live at the Garcia-Shapiro's, having a little basinette for a bed for the baby. Her mom had actually tried to make contact with her after hearing the news of the delivery from a fellow parent, but Adyson had ignored her offers of coming back. She wasn't going to go back there. Not after what her mom had done to her.

"It's crazy to think of all that happened in these past nine months," she continued, biting her lip as she looked down at her daughter. As of right now...Hope Sweetwater was a completely innocent person, which would eventually change once she came to the realities of life and started to live them the way her mother had to. "You guys know what they are."

Isabella and Vienna both nodded, grim looks on their faces. The latter looked away, since her conflict with Buford still had not been resolved.

"But...would I take back anything that led me to her?" Adyson wondered. She rocked the car seat just a little bit. She shook her head. "No...I wouldn't."

* * *

Just a few months before, Holly couldn't have imagined being in the same _room _as the two people she was currently talking to, let alone sitting with both of them in a cafe at the same table, she and the one person getting coffee and the other a cup of milk with various flavors of syrup in it.

"I'm glad we're all good," Holly informed Irving and Aubrey, nodding and holding her mug between her hands. Even when it was summer, it still felt good.

"Same here," Irving said. He glanced down at his phone after hearing a _beep _that signaled the fact that Phineas and Ferb were doing something new, and his eyes widened in excitement. He said nothing, however, just grinning, taking out his giant scrapbook from nowhere, and writing down the new information. Both Holly and Aubrey chose to ignore this the way they always did, just smiling at each other.

"I'm glad we're friends again," Aubrey told Holly as she licked a corner of her lip and giggled at the way it tickled. "I was tired of not being your friend. Friends are good."

Holly nodded, knowing now how true that was. She clinked her mug against Aubrey's. "Yes, Aubrey. Friends _are _good."

* * *

Milly sighed, trying to be patient as her best friend since kindergarten was talking in absolute hysteria to her about her best friend from dance class. Gretchen was supposed to come over in a mere few minutes, and while she liked talking to Katie, this really wasn't the best time to do so. Also, with her sister learning to walk, nothing was going well in her house, with everything made baby-safe and having to climb over those stupid gates at every stairway since she couldn't figure out how to open them. "Katie-"

"I just _don't _get it, Milly," Katie cried. "I-I mean, h-he's _never _showed any kind of..._like _for me. But, I don't know, I think I might like him, too. But what if it doesn't work, or what if something else happens, or-"

The doorbell rang. "Listen, Katie, I have to go. Gretchen's back now from the psych ward," Milly told her as she stood up, prepared to step over the gate. "But just think about one thing."

Katie sniffed. "What?"

"Is it really better for you to be in this misery?" she asked quietly after stepping over, since she was now getting closer to the door. "Can you risk losing both the friendship _and _the potential like you have going on here? You don't want to live your life wondering, _What if, _do you?"

"Well..." She hesitated. "No. But-"

She didn't get to finish, because Milly had already hung up.

* * *

_**An hour later at the shower**_

"Oh, God," Adyson said in disbelief as she looked at the Flynn-Fletcher's backyard that Isabella had conveniently led her to. There were...a _lot _of giant balloons just kind of floating in the air, not going anywhere, and below the tree were some other things that Adyson couldn't yet see since she was right at the gate. She _could _see her friends and sort-of friends, on the other hand, some there to greet her while others were farther away, just talking to each other. "What in God's name _is _this?"

"A baby shower since we forgot to hold one for you _before _the baby was born," Phineas said, shrugging. "Oh well."

"Oh my God," Adyson said again, shaking her head as she looked down at the car seat she was holding. "You guys...are insane. But...what's up with the giant balloons?"

"Oh, you'll see," Emily told her, nudging Ferb, who tried not to laugh out loud and pretty much succeeded except for a snort that came out.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Candace was still having no luck on getting her mom to come out and see the giant balloon things that were out there. Linda was well aware of the fact that there was a baby shower, and she said she would come out later to attend. Later was the key word. "_Mom_. For crying out loud, just look out the window!"

Linda looked out the window, only to look at Candace wearily. "I see nothing."

"But..." She trailed off, seeing that a giant white sign was in front of the view of the balloons. The sign didn't even say anything; it was just there. "Oh, come _on_."

* * *

"_Please _tell me Buford is coming," Vienna pleaded to Baljeet as everyone else went over to have a turn to look at the baby. V had already seen it, obviously, and Baljeet said that he would have a look later since he did not care to wait in a long line. "You've talked to him, right?"

"No, I have talked to him, left." He smirked, and Vienna rolled her eyes

"You're so hilarious," she said sarcastically, placing her hands on her hips. "Seriously, is he coming?"

"I do not see why not. Buford does not miss a thing that Phineas and Ferb do. And if he does...that is very strange."

"Well, tell me if you see him, okay?" She didn't hesitate to say any of what she was about to say. "I was a total jerk to him, and I need to apologize for being so. I _know _he wasn't the one who wrote the article. I know that it was your girlfriend, and I know that she told you. You knew _all _along."

* * *

While Vienna did not know this, Buford _was _there, and he had listened to their entire conversation. As soon as she walked away and joined her other friends, he poked his head out of the tree that they had been standing by. "She...knows?" he said, astonished.

"I believe she made that clear, Buford." Baljeet stole a chip from a bag, beginning to munch on it.

"Well then, why hasn't she _said _anything?"

"Girls are complicated creatures, Buford," his frenemy informed him as he groaned and slapped his forehead, also unknowingly losing his balance on the tree limb he was perched on. "Whenever you think they do not know anything, it turns out that-"

He was interrupted for the second time that day, but this time, it was from Buford falling and landing on him, making them both crash to the ground.

* * *

Gretchen gulped as she led Isabella and Emily into the house, where they could be in a private place, which, in this case specifically, was the hallway upstairs so that Linda and Candace wouldn't hear them. After ascending the staircase, she took a deep breath. "Okay, look," was the first thing she said after they had all gotten comfortable. Both Emily's and Isabella's eyes were wide, and Gretchen couldn't tell who was the most afraid of her, right now. "I just want it to be clear: What happened was _nobody's _fault except for mine." When Emily opened her mouth, she cut her off. "Yes, the two of you becoming friends began the snowball, but I dealt with it not by breaking up that snowball, but...just letting it continue."

"Did you get my letter?" Isabella blurted out. "Because, well...everything I said on there is true."

"I'm sure it is." Gretchen nodded, looking at Emily. "But...I can never be your best friend. It's clear that the two of you are the real best friends, here. I can't break that up."

"But you were the best friends, before..." Emily said quietly, trailing off at the last syllable.

"Perhaps, but...this has been going on for eight years. _Eight. Years. _People change in eight years, and sometimes, not necessarily for the better. But in this case...it was." Gretchen shrugged. "I'm not mad at either of you. Yes, we can be friends again, but...we just have to accept the fact that it won't be the same, and you also won't be seeing me as often this summer."

They looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?" Isabella said quietly. Both were starting to look more calm, now.

"I'm taking courses this entire summer so that I possibly have a chance of going to college the year after you guys do. Since I screwed my entire year up, the school is giving me one more chance to redeem myself, so, obviously, I'm taking that last chance."

"That's good." Much to Gretchen's surprise, Isabella was smiling, now, and smiling in the way that she hadn't for a very long time. "Actually...that's _great_, Gretchen. You deserve to have your life back in order."

"And I know you say you don't want it, but I'm sorry," Emily told her. "I never thought that you had become the way you had become...I should have known how close the both of you were before I barged in."

"You didn't barge in," Gretchen said. "And...thanks." She started to smile. Finally, her life was drama-free. And, best of all...she had her friend back, as well as another one that came along with her.

* * *

"You're being _ridiculous_," Lilly snapped to her friend, who was staring with wide eyes at the guy who had just walked in through the gate and was clearly searching for her. "I told him to get his ass over here so that you could shut the hell up and quit annoying everyone here."

"But I'm not _ready_," Katie whispered, biting her nails. "I just-"

"Katie?" she heard her best friend say, and her eyes squeezed shut. She prayed silently for this to not go horribly before opening them and turning around.

"Yeah?" she wondered, pretending like her heart wasn't beating like crazy and that she wasn't going to faint. Lilly rolled her wheelchair away after this, scanning the area for Holly before finding her and going over.

"Look..." Drew hesitated. "...I'm sorry, okay? I know you still like Phineas, and that I...probably really startled you. I'm...sorry."

"I don't still like Phineas." She said this matter-of-factly, as if he was supposed to know or had figured it out. Though, by his facial expression, he had not.

"Um...what?" He blinked. "Why wasn't I told about this?"

"I don't know." She shrugged, being sure not to look directly at him. "I mean...no. I...really don't like him anymore. And I don't know why."

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you?"

"No...I mean, um..." Katie was well aware of how stupid she was sounding, but she didn't how else to say the words she was trying to say. "Look, I-"

"Katie." He said this so quietly and in such a mysterious tone that Katie stopped talking. "When I told you liked you...I wasn't clear on what I wanted, and I think that's what freaked you out. What I wanted...was to be honest with you. Not necessarily have a relationship."

"Really? But...I mean..." Her head was starting to spin with confusion and...dread?

"I was tired of not being honest with you." He shrugged. "That's all."

"But..." She trailed off again, not knowing how to reply. Not that she needed to, since he had already left the party, walking out of the gate. It was as if he had never even been there and had just been a hologram. For all Katie knew...he _could _have been just a hologram.

Sighing, she crouched down against the fence, watching the party. Everyone laughing at whatever game they were playing, couples snuggling up against each other, friends punching each other in the arms playfully. While watching all of this, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Startled, she fished it out, typed in the password, and read the message, in which her eyes widened.

_If you want something different to happen, that would be okay, as well. ;)_

* * *

Adyson had decided beforehand that it wouldn't be such a good idea for her to participate in any of the party games, just watch and laugh at everyone trying to do something, whatever they were doing. She was sitting under the tree, her daughter beside her, still in that little car seat that Adyson had had a hell of a time with earlier. All Adyson could really do at this time was to stare at her, the person that had changed her life forever.

She heard someone sit down next to her at the tree, and she turned to see Django. "Hey," she said quietly, not wanting to disturb the baby. Not that Hope would wake up, anyway.

"Hey," Django said in reply. She noticed that he was staring down at the baby, as well, and that his facial expression had changed upon the first sight of her. She saw him gulp and put his hand up over his mouth. "Oh...my God."

Adyson's brows furrowed. "What?"

"Ad...she looks _just _like you." Now his eyes were on her, and he was smiling. "I mean..._just _like you. She's like you, in general."

Adyson blinked. While she had gotten many comments on how cute the baby was...she had never gotten _that _comment. She expecially wasn't expecting that comment to come from Django, of all people. "Are... you serious?"

"Very." He smiled back down at the baby again, who yawned once. He laughed a little. "She's gonna be a lazy one, and..." He hesitated a bit on saying this next part. "She's going to be just as pretty."

Adyson felt herself blush. "Heh. Well...um..." She wasn't sure how to reply.

"Look, Ad." He adjusted his seat, leaning back against the tree trunk. "What are we?"

"What...are we?" she echoed.

"Yeah. Are we friends, or...what? I'm...just confused." He cleared his throat, just to clear some of the awkwardness that was rising in the air, and she sat there, thinking. "I get that you don't want a relationship right now, which I get, don't get me wrong. Again, it's just that I'm confused. Am I always going to be a friend to you, or are we going to try again soon, or-"

He was interrupted by a tap of the shoulder. He turned his head slowly, only to be the victim of the surprise kiss this time. After several seconds, she broke it off, going back to her original position while he sat there, stunned. "That's the last one you're getting for a _while_," she said teasingly as she slowly rocked the car seat. She was smiling, clearly proud of herself for pulling it off. "Do you understand?"

He sat there, grinning goofily. "Yeah..."

* * *

Vienna groaned as the last party game was finishing up, as well as the actual party itself. Much to Candace's dismay, the giant balloons had mysteriously disappeared, so everyone, including her mother, had never gotten to see what they would have done with those.

Throughout the party, Vienna still hadn't seen Buford, which truly pissed her off. And in twenty minutes, everyone would be leaving. Meaning that, soon...she would have to leave, too, without apologizing to Buford. Grumbling under her breath, she went over to the tree, which, for once, had no one underneath it. Everyone else was looking at Perry, who had just appeared out of nowhere, like he always did. "Oh, _there _you are, Perry!" she heard Phineas exclaim. "Gosh, you missed all the fun."

_Not all of us had fun_, Vienna thought bitterly as she took a seat on a nearby plastic chair and sat in the shade. _In fact, some of us were hoping for a certain person to show up. By some of us, I mean me_.

"Look, Buford," she sighed. She didn't care that no one was there to hear it; she just had to say it. "I was a total bitch to you about that article. I...should have known that you didn't want to break up with me, and that the person was Ginger, who apologized, but I still don't think I can forgive her. But, either way, we're not the two main characters in a drama, though I certainly made it seem like we were. We have our differences, but...I've always loved you." She shrugged. "There really is no better way of saying it."

"I know."

Vienna shrieked, jumping out of her chair out of fright, and Buford, startled by this shriek, once again lost his balance and fell right where she had been sitting from the tree. She stared at him, shocked, as this happened, and watched him sit up and rub his head. "Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked worriedly, helping him up. "That had to hurt."

"Meh, not really." He brushed himself off, and V just looked at him. This was the first time they had had a conversation since she had broken up with him, and she was now starting to feel uneasy. But Buford just continued to talk. "So...how've ya been lately?"

"Fine." She swallowed. "Look...there's something I have to tell you-"

"Ya don't have to." He shrugged. "I already heard. Every lil' thing ya just said." As her mouth dropped open, he placed his finger on her lips, and she grew silent. For several seconds, they both just stood there in those positions, just staring at each other.

"You know," Vienna said quietly, taking his finger off, "You can be a real romantic when you want to be, and you don't even try."

"Really." He raised his eyebrow, an expression that V had always loved on him. "Maybe I should actually try for once. Get on that chair and stand on it."

Vienna smirked at him as she did this. "Oh, _I _see how this is supposed to be."

"I'm glad ya do." With that, after she stood up on the chair, she leaned down and kissed him, making their make-up official.

* * *

As everyone said their goodbyes to Phineas, Ferb, and Perry until the next day, in which they all would arrive just the way they did on every summer's day, they all thought about how much had happened in the past year that ultimately led them to this baby shower in the first place. So much stuff had happened, all of it completely unexpected, and not a whole lot of it had been pretty.

There had been drama in relationships, crushes, in friendships, and how relationships, crushes, and friendships came together or even disappeared, some to reappear after.

There had been drama that involved pets.

There had been drama with parents.

There had even been drama that didn't involve another living thing.

But all of this drama had happened, even though none of it had been planned. Life wasn't planned in general, which all eighteen teenagers had come to realize. Overall, they had come to realize that in life, they were to expect the unexpected.

And, perhaps...that was the very best thing that they could have ever come to learn.

~The End

* * *

**Wow...that's it, you guys. That's...frickin'...it. Seven and a half months and fifty chapters later...it's done. I can't believe it.**

**Okay, so to start off this long ass author's note that you all are going to hate me for, since it requires even **_**more **_**reading, I just want to thank all of you for reading, because, well, I kind of have to thank you for even bothering to click on the link that led to the first chapter of this story, which really was just an author's note that probably scared you into even starting, not that I would blame you. That thing is huge. But, again, thank you for sticking with this story, leaving feedback, offering me ideas. I appreciate all of it.**

**As for what I'm going to be doing after this story...there's Savannah's little spin-off thing that I'm going to be starting this summer about her summer out of town, having to not be around her friends for their very last summer all together in Danville. As to **_**when **_**this summer I'll be starting it...I have no idea. XD So don't ask, because I don't know. After that, I'll be holding off on big projects for a while.**

**I'll also probably do some one-shots, though I doubt they're all going to be for PnF. So look out for me possibly doing some of those, since I haven't written any in a while. **

**So, now that this story's over...I want to know what you guys thought of it, in general. What was your favorite/the best storyline, and what was your least favorite/most boring storyline? Same with characters, or whatever else you can think of...I'm genuinely curious. **

**All right, so...I guess you'll hear again from me eventually. I hope you enjoyed reading this story, and now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sleep since this story took me forever to write.**


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